Gargoyles : STILL CREEPY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

This movie scared the hell out of me when I saw in on t.v. back in '72 (I was seven years old at the time).

Watching it today, it still has some creepy elements to it.

When they slow the gargoyles down and show them moving in "slow motion", that makes them very sinister and creepy. The music is cool, too. And the sound effect that resembles a power drill being revved up (which they play whenever a gargoyle is running, jumping, etc.) is still very eerie!

Also, the scene where Cornell Wylde is lying in bed, and looks down at the foot of the bed to see a gargoyle's clawed hands pop up right by his feet, though cheesy, is still creepy!

But the scene I remember creeping me out back in '72 is when the search party comes across the pickup truck that's stuck in low gear, just going around in circles, round and round. They finally jump in and stop it, and find the front seat covered in blood. Very foreboding.

And the head gargoyle, even after all these years, still looks very demonic and evil! I remember the scene when he rides up on horseback and tells Cornell Wylde, "you want to see the girl? Leave that (the gun) and follow me!" Even on horseback, he's very scary and demonic!

Absolutely one of my best childhood t.v. memories.

Wow, I agree with everything you said.

But that's probably because, like you, I was born in the 60's and watched this movie back when it 1st aired. (I was probably only 8 or so).

The only monster movies I had seen up until that point was Godzilla, King Kong, Frankenstein and such. So for me this movie was pretty dark (with it's talk of the devil and demons and all).

That scene with the Gargoyle slowly rising from the foot of the bed gave me nightmares for weeks. No seriously, for probably six months after seeing that I was afraid to look down at the foot of my bed.

But I would suspect that kids today would laugh at the make-up and find nothing scary at all.

I also saw this made for tv movie when it first airedI was 11 years old. I remember my mom asked me to take the trash out after watching this, and I was so scared to go outside (but didn't want anyone to think I was scared). I was in panic mode the whole time.

I was nine years old when this first aired. It scared the crap out of me. I especially remember the part where the old man was talking in the shed and the professor was recording what he said and the gargoyles tore the shed down and it caught on fire. I saw it again about 15 years ago and I still enjoyed it. I think some of today's films have too much CGI going on at times. I love these old films like Gargoyles.

I was 7 or so when I watched it alone at night and this scared the crap out of me as well.

Ditto for the effect it had on me, and a lot of it might be that nostalgia from watching it as a kid.

I saw this for the first time today. I wasn't scared of it at all but I loved it anyways. I would've loved to have been around during it's original broadcast so I could watch it.

I've been waiting for you, Ben.

I did get to see it during its' original broadcast. Well, I saw about the first 20 minutes before getting the living crap scared out of me. I was seven years old and it would be another seven years before I could get the courage to watch it all the way through. This was one scary movie that has lived in my memory over 40 years later. I had the VHS copy back in the 90s and now have the DVD with a very good audio commentary from the director. It may not have aged well for some, but for me it is a fond (if not scary) memory of my childhood.

T.E. Lawrence: The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.

I saw this when I was 9. My Mom made me turn it off after about a half hour. Said it would give me nightmeres. To late Mom! I bought a copy a few years back. She should have just let me watch the whole thing. It gets kind of silly towards the end. Wouldn't have scarred me for years if Id seen the entire movie.

I saw this film w/ my older brother, on The Tube, when it first aired. I was in 3rd grade. I still love this Made-4-TV film, along with Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973). They're both imprinted on my mind.

Thank you Cornel, Jennifer, Kim, and Jim.

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I was 13 years old when I first saw this TV movie and even though it scared the bejeesus out of me, I still enjoyed it a lot. I grew up watching all those old 'Creature Features' like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Creature From the Black Lagoon, etc. and I'm still a fan of monster movies to this day. I would love to see Gargoyles again. Hopefully, I'll be able to purchase the DVD online so I can see if it still creeps me out now.

"Crunch Berries make me a better crime fighter."

Great post. I first saw this when I was 6 or 7, in the mid '70s. For me it definitely holds up as one of the creepier TV movies - same goes for Salem's Lot.

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And the head gargoyle, even after all these years, still looks very demonic and evil! I remember the scene when he rides up on horseback and tells Cornell Wylde, "you want to see the girl? Leave that (the gun) and follow me!" Even on horseback, he's very scary and demonic!

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I have the opposite response. I find Bernie Casey in that scene to be very seductive and sexy. He looks so beautiful on that horse. He had such a command of that costume and his presence commanded every scene he's in. The scene that particularly gets me is the one where Diana is reading to him and he comes up behind her. I always wanted to see an x-rated version of that scene.

Sometimes my ruminations are too confusing for someone not inside my head. -Anon