man-in-suit monster | Monster Zone

Directed by Eugène Lourié, starring Bill Travers, William (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY) Sylvester, Vincent Winter, Christopher Rhodes, Martin (THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER) Benson and Joseph (THE GORGON) O’Conor. A King Brothers production.

The towering titan approaches Piccadilly Circus in London…

...and wrecks the 'Gorgo' sign! — …and wrecks the ‘Gorgo’ signage!

Captain Joe Ryan (Travers), his First Officer buddy Sam Slade (Sylvester) and his crew discover and capture a gigantic prehistoric creature off the coast of Ireland after an underwater earthquake releases it.

Some weird, dead sea creatures are discovered before Gorgo makes its appearance

Accompanied by an orphan called Sean (Winter), Joe and Sam take the large beast to London, where it is put on public display. But then… the critter’s even bigger mother arrives and demolishes the capital city in search of her offspring!

The captured baby Gorgo is driven through London

From the director of THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953) and BEHEMOTH THE SEA MONSTER (1959), this giant monster movie stands out for several reasons.

Firstly, the film really makes an effort to show the effects of the parent creature’s attack on the inhabitants of the city, with the streets jammed with fleeing crowds, many of whom are engulfed in falling masonry.

A wall topples towards panic-stricken Londoners

Secondly, the central idea of the story is really cool: Gorgo, the monster on show at a London circus, is only an infant… and its huge mother goes on the rampage to save the youngster!

In fact, it was such a good idea the story was ‘borrowed’ for the Japanese film GAPPA THE TRIPHIBIAN MONSTER (1967).

Young Gorgo is put on display in London... — Young Gorgo is put on display in London…

...and momma comes to get her offspring, wrecking lots of buildings! — …and mummy monster comes to get her offspring back, wrecking lots of buildings in the process!

Momma Gorgo gets to wreck such famous landmarks as Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus and Tower Bridge, plus a rollercoaster and a Royal Navy frigate.

This colourful creature feature eschews the need for a tacked-on love interest subplot, and the movie finishes with a happy ending… for the monsters! Hooray!

Check out some Gorgo-tastic posters…

Here’s an example of original poster artwork by Joseph Smith for GORGO. Joseph did another concept for the film that was actually used on all the posters, but he personally considered this design to be far superior…

19" X 24" — This illustration was 19″ X 24″

Francisco Fernández Zarza (aka Jano) created this gouache and tempera rendition of the Gorgo monster… making the critter look just like Japanese kaiju turtle-beast Gamera! It is a nicely painted poster, nonetheless…

It's Gamera! Er, I mean: it's Gorgo! — It’s Gamera! Er, I mean: it’s Gorgo!

The GORGO pressbook…

The cover for issue #11 of Famous Monsters of Filmland…

Gorgo illustration by the awesome Basil Gogos

Some covers and interior art for the Gorgo comic book series from Charlton Comics…

'Monster against spaceship' — ‘Monster against spaceship’

'The creature from beyond!' — ‘The creature from beyond!’

'Venusian terror' — Getting licked by a ‘Venusian terror’

'The capture of Gorgo' — ‘The capture of Gorgo’

'...Only this fantastic monster could decide the fate of humanity!' — ‘…Only this fantastic monster could decide the fate of humanity!’

'The return of Gorgo' — ‘The return of Gorgo’

Monster mom and baby drawn by the legendary Ditko

A behind the scenes pic of the monster suit under construction…

Those dots in the neck are presumably the holes where the suit actor peered through? — Those dots in the neck are presumably the holes that the suit actor peered through?

Finally, one more look at Britain’s finest kaiju…

Directed by Stephen Traxler, written by Stephen Traxler, starring Alan Blanchard, Judy Motulsky, J.C. Claire, Dennis Falt, Mello Alexandria and Win Condict.

Over in Venice Beach, California, a marine monster starts killing dogs, before going after people, but the local cops doubt that it actually exists. A journalism professor (Blanchard) starts looking into the murders, helped by Dr. John (Claire), and he discovers that the weird critter may actually be linked to nuclear waste…

Also known simply as SLITHIS, this flick was shot in 12 days on a budget of 100,000 dollars. There was a “Slithis Survival Kit” offered at drive ins!

The thing is, this man-in-suit creature feature could have been a 70s schlocky classic if more time had been spent on the monster attacks instead of focusing so much running time on the protagonist’s drawn-out amateur detective work. Oh well.
There’s also one of the all-time worst pieces of ham acting courtesy of the actor playing a police lieutenant!

But, you know what? I do kinda like the shambling Slithis monster (played by Win Condict) when it is actually on-screen. The funky fella is a kind of bulky gill-man with suckers in its mouth and a dorsal fin on its humped back.