 Actor Barbara Shelley, who played the possessed heroine, Carla  Hoffmann, wanted to play the part of the gorgon as well for  continuity, and suggested to producer Anthony Nelson Keys that she  use a special wig with live green garden snakes woven into it for a  more realistic effect. Her idea was rejected by Keys due to budget  and time considerations. When Keys saw the abysmal gorgon effects in  the finished film, he told Shelley that he should have listened to  her suggestion. As Christopher Lee quips, "The only thing wrong with  "The Gorgon" is the gorgon!"