Gorgon bites

A selection of 'Gorgon bites' for use in the film 'The Gorgon' (1964), made by Roy Ashton (1909-1995) in 1964, stored in a red metal Elastoplast tin.

Roy Ashton (1909–95) and Phil Leakey (1908–92) were master make-up artists who worked on many of the British cult horror films of the mid-20th century. A trained artist, Australia-born Ashton began his career at Gaumont-British Film Corporation in 1932 as a means of supplementing his passion for opera singing. In 1955, Ashton became the assistant to Hammer Films’ Phil Leakey, the first makeup artist to receive on-screen credit for ‘Special Make-up Effects’. Following Leakey’s departure from Hammer in 1958, Ashton took over as head makeup artist, where he continued his expert work throughout the 1960s.

the Gorgon tells the story of Megaera, who feeds on her victims under the influce of the full moon. These latex puncture marks were applied to the skin and blended with make-up, to make it seem as though blood had been drained from her victim.