Gargoyles Movie Review

Trailer here.

Gargoyles is a 1972 TV horror movie directed by Bill Norton and starring Cornel Wilde and Jennifer Salt. Scott Glenn also makes an appearance.

Dr. Mercer Boley(Wilde) and his daughter Diana(Salt) are in New Mexico. He is writing a book about demons. They go to visit a man who says that he has an unusual skeleton. His name is Uncle Willie(Woody Chambliss) and he has a desert museum. He shows the doctor his skeleton. Dr. Boley thinks that it is not real. Willie tells him that the place is called Devil's Crossing. He says that the Native Americans used to talk about it. Dr. Boley becomes more interested. Willie talks about a Native American ritual. He gets nervous as the day gets later. Something is outside and it tries to get in. Uncle Willie's museum is set on fire and Willie dies. Boley takes the skeleton's head and leaves. The place is totally destroyed. He and Diana drive off but something jumps on the car. It tries to get at them. They pull into a gas station and there is a motel next door. They go there. Mrs. Parks is the owner and they get a place to stay. A group of bikers, led by James Reeger(Glenn) look around the remains of Uncle Willie's place. The cops find them there and think that they burned the place down. They are arrested. Dr. Boley tries to tell them that the bikers didn't do it, but the cops don't listen.

During the night, Dr. Boley hears noises outside their room. There are gargoyles out there. They are looking for the skeleton head. One of them gets hit by a truck and it dies. Boley brings it into the motel room. Diana goes to the police and she says the the bikers are innocent. She tells Reeger about the gargoyles. He thinks that she is crazy. The gargoyles reappear, looking for their dead pal. Boley and Diana put it into their car. The gargoyles take Diana and they turn the car over. The big daddy gargoyle shows up and he looks at Diana. His minions take the dead gargoyle with them. Diana is brought to their lair. Dr. Boley tells the police about the gargoyles. They think that he is crazy. The biker gang don't and they offer their help to find Diana. They all go to search for her.

Diana is in a cave with the gargoyle gang. She looks around the place. The head gargoyle has her fathers books and he wants her to teach him about what is in them. He can talk too!! The search party comb the area for Diana. The lead gargoyle tells Diana that humans have nothing to fear from them. There are gargoyle eggs in their cave. They are beginning to hatch. The gargoyles are aware that the search party is coming. They emerge from their cave and there is a battle. Some of them get shot. The head gargoyle takes Dr.Boley into his cave and tells him that they are going to destroy humans. Reeger sees the eggs, He douses them with gasoline and sets them on fire. Diana and her father are led to freedom by the female gargoyle. Dr. Boley damages the queens wings so that she can't leave. The lead gargoyle takes her off in his arms and they fly away to start breeding somewhere else.

This film was entertaining in its own way. The cast weren't too bad. The gargoyles were a bit silly but the lead one was decent. It was pretty good for a TV movie. It is obvious that this film is cheap, but it is actually enjoyable. I would certainly recommend it for some fun. I will give it a 5/10.