#Diana Boley

[chernobog13]

Bernie Casey and Jennifer Salt in the made-for-television film Gargoyles (1972).

The make-up effects were done by some kid named Stan Winston.

[oldfilmsflicker]

new-to-me #242 - Pilar 

[killerscartv]

Gargoyles (Full TV film) 1972

A made-for-television fantasy horror film, directed by Bill Norton, and originally broadcast Tuesday, November 21, 1972 for CBS' The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies. It was the first film to feature the make-up work of special effects artist Stan Winston, for which he shared the 1973 Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup. Dr. Mercer Boley and his daughter Diana are traveling in New Mexico for his scientific research. They are shown a skeleton of a large creature with wings and horns at a place called Uncle Willie's Desert Museum. Dr. Boley dismisses it as a hoax assembled from unrelated bones, but Uncle Willie insists that he found the bones together as a whole skeleton. While Uncle Willie tells them tales of demons from Native American folklore, an unseen force attacks the building, causing a rafter to collapse and kill the proprietor, and starting a fire that consumes the building. Dr. Boley and Diana escape with the horned skull and take it to a motel. The next morning they report to the police and return to the site of the fire. There they find a group of young men, James Reeger and four others, riding motorcycles around the ruins. The police arrest them on suspicion of causing the fire, against the advice of the Boleys. That night, two Gargoyles, appearing much smaller than the skeleton and without horns or wings, invade the motel room to retrieve the skull. Dr. Boley chases them to the road where one is struck and killed by a truck and the other gets away with the skull. Boley takes the body back to the room. The alcoholic hotelier, Mrs. Parks, complains but Diana tries to assure her that it was only a family argument. (There is never any word from the truck driver who stopped but then seems to have driven away without suspicion, and no further mention is made of the bathroom door that was destroyed by a gargoyle.) Diana returns to the police station and pleads for the bikers' innocence but the police refuse to release them. She tells Reeger about the dead gargoyle but does not mention it to the police even though it would prove their innocence, apparently because her father wants it for study. She returns to the motel. Two slightly larger gargoyles return to recover the gargoyle body, but the Boleys escape with it through the window and stow it in their station wagon. The gargoyles rip the passenger door off and kidnap Diana, then overturn the car rendering Dr. Boley unconscious. The gargoyles take Diana to their cave, where they have many eggs. She meets the gargoyle leader, who is larger and has wings and horns like the skeleton. He tells Diana that they have only been alive for a few weeks after a 500 year incubation, and that humans have repeatedly killed them off in the past, but he vows that they will survive this time. He has several of Dr. Boley's books, apparently also taken from the car, and insists that Diana read to him. As she reads a passage that describes a mythical encounter between a human female and a demon who molests her, the leader approaches from behind and startles her, but assures her that he has no interest in humans. Dr. Boley convinces the police to release the bikers and search for Diana, and Reeger joins them. Mrs. Parks and her helper drive away to get assistance, but the search party later finds her pickup truck empty and bloodied, and her body hanging upside down from a telephone pole with no sign of the helper. The gargoyle leader has a queen, who also has wings, and she informs him that "men, horses, and dogs" are approaching the cave, and that many more eggs will hatch the next day. The leader orders that the humans must be stopped in the desert. Over a dozen gargoyles charge the humans and both sides have casualties. The leader takes Dr. Boley to the cave and vows that "this is the end of your age, the beginning of mine." The queen appears jealous of the leader's attention to Diana, and she leads Dr. Boley to his daughter and lets them escape. Reeger douses the eggs with gasoline but is attacked by several gargoyles before he can get away, so he lights the fuel and sacrifices himself. When the leader realizes that his war is once again lost, Dr. Boley bludgeons the queen's wing with a rock so she cannot fly, and so the leader must carry her away. He flies away with her to create a new nest somewhere. Screenplay by Stephen Karpf & Elinor Karpf Directed by Bill L. Norton Starring- Cornel Wilde as Dr. Mercer Boley Jennifer Salt as Diana Boley Bernie Casey as The Gargoyle leader Vic Perrin as Voice of The Gargoyle leader Woody Chambliss as Uncle Willie Scott Glenn as James Reeger William Stevens as Police Chief Grayson Hall as Mrs. Parks Music by Robert Prince

[docrotten]

Gargoyles (1972) – Episode 131 – Decades of Horror 1970s

"Gargoyles are a scientific fact. And they're no more dangerous than a high school dropout on a motorcycle.” Well, maybe they’re a little more dangerous than a high school dropout on a motorcycle. Join your faithful Grue Crew - Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr - as they learn from Uncle Willie that there were real-life models for all of those stone sculptures perched on buildings and known as Gargoyles (1972).

Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 131 – Gargoyles (1972)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

An anthropologist/paleontologist and his daughter, while traveling through the southwestern U.S., stumble upon a colony of living, breathing gargoyles.

IMDb

  Director: Bill Norton (as B.W.L. Norton)

Writers: Stephen Karpf, Elinor Karpf

Gargoyle Makeup: Stan Winston, Ellis Burman Jr. (as Ellis Burman)

Selected Cast:

Cornel Wilde as Dr. Mercer Boley

Jennifer Salt as Diana Boley

Grayson Hall as Mrs. Parks

Bernie Casey as The Gargoyle

Scott Glenn as James Reeger

William Stevens as Police Chief

John Gruber as Jesse

Woody Chambliss as Uncle Willie

Jim Connell as Buddy

Vic Perrin as The Gargoyle (voice) (uncredited)

Gargoyles premiered November 21, 1972, on CBS and is one of a handful of TV-movie, horror gems that were broadcast in the 1970s. Jeff is impressed with how well laid out the story is and loves that all the gargoyles look different. Bill loves the cast and thinks the gargoyle costumes are amazing, especially considering the budget and that it’s Stan Winston’s first film credit. For Chad, the true test is that it still gives him the same feels as when he first watched it as a kid.  Doc recounts how the jumping, leaping creatures made a huge impression and he is really impressed at how good Gargoyles is.

At the time of this writing, Gargoyles is available to stream on Amazon Prime and as physical media on a German import DVD. If you haven’t seen this one for a while, the time might be right for you to rectify that condition. The 1970s Grue-Crew give Gargoyles an enthusiastic thumbs up!

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode in their very flexible schedule will be Asylum of Satan (1972), directed by none other than William Girdler. Be sure to join the Decades of Horror 1970s Grue-Crew for that one! 

We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans:  leave us a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com.

Check out this episode!

[themastercylinder]

“The devil was once the most favored of the host of angels serving the lord. But pride welled in his breast. He thought it unseemly for him to serve. The devil and his band of followers who likewise suffered the sin of pride were defeated in battle by the lord and his host, and were banished to the outer most depths of Hell, never to know the presence of the lord or look on heaven again. Smarting with his wounds but all the more swollen with pride the devil cried out from the depths, ‘it is better to rule in hell then serve in heaven.’ The devil proclaimed what was lost in heaven, would be gained on earth. He said, ‘my offspring, the gargoyles will one day rule the lord’s works, earth and man.’ And so it came to pass that while man ruled on earth the gargoyles waited, lurking hidden from the light. Reborn every 600 years in man’s reckoning of time the gargoyles joined battle against man to gain dominion over the earth. In each coming the gargoyles were nearly destroyed by men who flourished in greater numbers. Now it has been hundreds of so many years that it seems the ancient statues and paintings of gargoyles are just products of man’s imagination. In this year with man’s thoughts turned toward the many ills he has brought upon himself. Man has forgotten his most ancient adversary… the gargoyles.!”

        CAST

Cornel Wilde-Dr. Mercer Boley

Jennifer Salt-Diana Boley

Grayson Hall-Mrs. Parks

Bernie Casey-The Gargoyle

Scott Glenn-James Reeger

William Stevens-Police Chief

John Gruber-Jesse

Woody Chambliss-Uncle Willie

Jim Connell-Buddy

A made-for-TV flick that originally aired in the U.S. on CBS in November of 1972, GARGOYLES tells the story of an anthropology researcher (Cornel Wilde) who, with the assistance of his adult daughter (Jennifer Salt), travels to the Arizona desert to investigate an unusual skeleton discovered there. However, when the duo try to transport the bony remains away from the discovery site, they are pursued by a number of gargoyle-like creatures who want to reclaim the unearthed skeleton, and the scientist and his daughter soon find themselves at the locus of an age-old battle between mankind and an evil race of garrulous reptilians.

      Ellis Burman Jr-Gargoyle makeup

Stan Winston-Gargoyle makeup

Artist Concepts for Gargoyles by Wes Cook 1972

Artist Concepts for Gargoyles by Wes Cook 1972

Birthday Party for Director Bill Norton

Gargoyles Crew Ray Markham, Milt Rice (SPFX)

Gargoyles (1972) “The devil was once the most favored of the host of angels serving the lord. But pride welled in his breast.