The British must have been really jealous of the legendary Japanese monster Godzilla destroying the city of Tokyo, as they insisted on having their very one mega-giant critter destroying the city of London. The result is Gorgo, a charming and easily aggravated sea lizard of Irish descent with adorable bright red eyes. The film opens with a diving expedition witnessing an underwater volcano eruption in the middle of the ocean. The impressive ecological phenomenon brings a lot of fake and inexistent species of rubber fish to the surface, but also awakens the bad-tempered sea monster Gorgo. See, Gorgo is a really cool monstrosity that doesn't waste any time and that's something horror fans will definitely always appreciate. Unlike most monsters in the film industry, Gorgo doesn't start by picking off sole victims somewhere in the middle of the sea; it promptly attacks entire seaside villages at one. That way, there are witnesses aplenty and the few hysterical survivors don't have to waste half of the script trying to convince the authorities about what they saw. Greedy fishermen catch the prehistoric critter and sell him/her/it to a sleazy circus owner in London. But then, and inevitably, it turns out that they only just captured Gorgo Junior, and mommy obviously doesn't like that her baby is downgraded to being a circus freak. "Gorgo" isn't a great or even highly memorable monster classic, but at least it's never boring. The titular monster is pretty cool, the special effects are reasonably astonishing considering the time of release and there are a few admirable attempts to generate sequences of mass hysteria and mayhem. The majority of miniature sets are delightful and let's not forget the various and hilarious use of stock footage! Military battleships and U-boats are firing off artillery into the open water and Gorgo isn't anywhere near the point of impact. The rampage through London itself is not as overwhelming as the aforementioned Godzilla crushing down Tokyo, but it's nice and exhilarating to look at nonetheless. Recommended if you have a soft spot for late 50's/early 60's ecological monster movies.

GORGO (the name given to the monster is supposedly because it has the power to turn men to stone with fright, like the gorgon, but I suspect it's merely a derivative of GODZILLA) is simply a British version of the typical monster on the rampage in a city theme, done to death in films like THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS and all the others. The British aspect has both good and bad points; unfortunately the budget is slightly hampered, but there is the endearingly British aspect to things.

As monster movies go it's not a bad rip-off, hardly original, but it passes the time. All of the traditional things are in the film, including bad acting, the army fighting the monster (including the typical stock army footage of aircraft taking off, etc.),the monster trashing the city only for the world to be saved at the end. I was going to comment on the bad back projection in this film, however after recently viewing AT THE EARTH'S CORE it doesn't seem as bad. But then I don't think anything would. The actors are all bland, sailor types, and you won't give two hoots about any of them, apart from an endearing little boy who runs about in peril. Bill Travers is particularly wooden which is a surprise given the charismatic performances he gave in his later 'animal' films like BORN FREE.

There are some effective moments in the film, including the arrival of the red-eyed monster and a hilarious moment involving some giant rubber fish, but these are few and far between. The trouble is that we've been here a million times already and the film doesn't offer up much that's new. Is the final destructive climax worth waiting for? All I'll say is that the smashing buildings are slightly more realistic than those in the Japanese equivalents, that's not really saying much though. The monsters in the film are strictly of the man in a rubber suit variety, and not realistic at all, and pretty generic really.

Also, there isn't that intentional/unintentional humour aspect which makes films like these so enjoyable, for instance it's nowhere near as much fun as the kaiju DESTROY ALL MONSTERS. However, there is a good ending to the film, something of an anticlimax but good nonetheless. This time around, the monsters survive and return back to the ocean. It's a happy film to watch for those of us who root for the monsters in these things and it really brings a smile to the face when the brunt of the military force just can't defeat mother nature. It's certainly a first for me anywhere, more endings to monster on the rampage films should be like this, after all Gorgo is only defending her young. All together, GORGO is a typical monster on the rampage film, with nothing to distinguish it from all the others apart from the British setting. In which instance it gets an extra star. It passes the time, but there's no need to go out of your way to see it.

I do so remember seeing Gorgo in the theater when I was only 13. That's the place it should be seen on a full theater screen. Then you get the full impact of the terror he's spreading around London.

A tramp freighter captained by Bill Travers puts in to a small port on the island of Nara off the Irish coast. As that name sounds Japanese it should have given someone a hint. Volcanic activity at the bottom of the Atlantic has torn the ocean bottom open and this prehistoric monster emerges. The Irish government claims it for research, but after Travers captures it he sells it to Martin Benson's circus in London at Battersea Park.

British scientists say that this guy is just a baby and that must mean some adults are around. Sure enough a 200 foot high version of Godzilla's Atlantic cousin starts looking for her youngster and there ain't nothing stopping her from getting her child.

This was as good as I remember it and Gorgo has a nice moral to it about letting sleeping dogs and monsters lie and that man isn't all powerful. I was impressed by the performance of Vincent Winter who plays a young Irish orphan kid who attachs himself to Travers. Winters comes across as a real kid and his performance was quite touching.

I'll bet even with the advances in mankind's weaponry we'd still have big problems with Mama Gorgo today if she was on that same mission, looking for her child.