American-
Spanish horror film, released in 2001. It was directed by
Stuart Gordon, with a
screenplay by
Dennis Paoli, based on "
The Shadow over Innsmouth" by
H.P. Lovecraft. Stars include
Ezra Godden as Paul Marsh,
Francisco Rabel as Ezequiel,
Raquel Merono as Barbara,
Macarena Gomez as Uxia,
Brendan Price as Howard,
Birgit Bofarull as Vicki, and
Ferran Lahoz as the priest.
Fans of Lovecraft's stories have always had slim pickings when it came to
movies based on HPL's work. Usually stuck watching mediocre to sub-par flicks that take little inspiration from the Master's writing, like "
Die, Monster, Die!", "
The Haunted Palace," "
The Dunwich Horror," "
The Crimson Cult," and "
The Unnamable," fans have learned to embrace films like Lovecraft-faithful movies like "
The Resurrected," Sorta-Lovecraftian-but-still-way-fun movies like "
Re-Animator," and Not-Lovecraftian-at-all-but-damn-they-got-the-mood-right movies like "
In the Mouth of Madness" -- mainly because there's just nothing else out there.
Director Gordon and producer
Brian Yuzna have something of a mad-on for Lovecraft. They were responsible for both "Re-Animator" and "
From Beyond," based on Lovecraft stories, and they've been working for years on bringing a big-budget
adaptation of "The Shadow over Innsmouth," with big
stars galore and
creature effects designed by
Berni Wrightson and
Dick Smith, to the big screen.
"Dagon" has no big stars and only a small
budget, and the
reviews in the
mainstream press have been middling to poor. But it's definitely not a failure. It's not completely
faithful to its source material -- numerous characters are changed or added, the location is shifted from
Innsmouth, Massachusetts to a small
coastal town in
Spain (mainly because most of the
cash for the flick was raised in Spain), and great heaping gobs of
nudity and
gore are added to the mix. But for Lovecraft fans, "Dagon" has it goin' on.
We start out following
bespectacled and
nightmare-plagued Paul Marsh and his friends aboard a small
yacht. A sudden
storm blows their boat onto some rocks, so Paul and his girlfriend Barbara take a
lifeboat to a nearby town to get help for their injured friends. They discover a
ramshackle,
decaying town, a
sinister church, oddly-
deformed citizens who never seem to
blink, and lots and lots (and lots and lots) (and lots) of
rain. As Paul runs from the
croaking, braying townspeople, he runs into few allies (the almost
unintelligible Esquivel and the
beautiful but
ominously unblinking Uxia), collides with far, far too many enemies, and discovers more
secrets than he'll ever be comfortable with.
What Gets Done Right: atmosphere, first and foremost. The
omnipresent rain and
darkness, coupled with the filthy, decaying town, keep the
spooky,
Lovecraftian mood going perfectly.
(It rains almost constantly in this movie. I had to check my carpet for water damage after the film was over.) The
acting, especially from Godden, is also pretty good. In fact, the
character of Paul Marsh --
limping,
fumbling with his
glasses, screwing things up over and over and over -- is also a definite keeper. The
special effects and
makeup are generally low-tech
prosthetics, thank Azathoth. The few
computerized effects are completely unconvincing. Oh, and Paul wears a
Miskatonic University T-shirt. A minor detail, but it makes all the Lovecraft
geeks go "Awwww, yeah."
What Gets Done Wrong: the
accents are often
irritating and
distracting, especially Esquivel's. He has huge chunks of
exposition to deliver, but it's almost impossible to
understand anything he says. Like I said before, the computer effects are bad. There's at least one giant
plot hole concerning why Esquivel has been able to spend the last 75 years in
Evil Monster Fish Town without being killed or turning into a
fishman himself.
Should you watch it? If you don't have a high tolerance for
blood and
gore or
gratuitous nudity, you might better give this one a pass. If you don't enjoy
horror movies, especially low-budget
B-movies, give it a pass.
If you're a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, go see it now.
Research from the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com)