Review of Dagon (2001) by Kari K — 27 Mar 2011

H.P Lovecraft is one of the greatest writers America has ever produced, so it's bafling to me that his work hasn't been adapted into film more frequently. There was the seminal RE-ANIMATOR, the quirky silent film take on CALL OF CTHULU, John Carpenter's homage IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, and now DAGON, Stuart Gordon's second crack at the master's timeless tales of terror (he'd previously directed RE-ANIMATOR). Based on the flawless short story 'Shadow Over Innsmouth', DAGON is a pretty solid little horror flick that makes a really, REALLY strong case for the necessity of a big-budget Lovecraft movie. Gordon manages to elicit some really solid shocks and a terrific atmosphere with what was obviously a shoestring budget, but the material begs for an epic scope to adequately capture the sense of awe that the myythos of the Deep Ones elicit, and Gordon's fish-monster people just aren't quite up to the task.

Paul is a freshly-minted Internet millionaire, on vacation with his sexy Spanish girlfriend Barbara (Raquel Merono) off the coast of Spain. Paul is played by Ezra Godden, who one suspects was was cast because of his uncanny resemblance to long-time Gordon stalwart Jeffrey Combs (watch RE-ANIMATOR again and tell me they couldn't be twins). A freak wave crashes their yacht into some rocks, and they must swim to the nearby island town of Imboca (Imboca = Innsmouth. Get it?), where the pasty-pale residents make no effort to hide that they're more than a little weird. Paul and Barbara are seperated, and the film quickly becomes essentially a 95 minute chase scene, with the icthyoid residents of Imboca shuffling and grunting in relentless pursuit of the nerdy protagonist. Paul encounters an old man (Francisco Rabal) who provides some back story and roots the tale within the established Lovecraftian mythos, and Uxia (Macarena Gomez), a crazy-eyed, nubile priestess with a mysterious connection to Paul.

The issues I have with the film are mostly in it's presentation. The fish people look creepy when seen in close-up, but the floppy, unconvincing make-up doesn't hold up for extended periods, which is a small detail but something that can take you out of the moment regardless. Same can be said for the sparingly-used, yet crucial, CGI set pieces. None of these things were even a problem for me when I was first watching it, because I thought the film was at least 20 years old, and for a 20 year old film, it looks pretty great. Sadly, it's barely a decade old, and the amateurish effects make it difficult to suspend one's disbelief. Additionally, Godden isn't the most convincing hero, oftentimes coming across as bored or confused when outright terror is the order of the day.

Still, aside from these little flaws, DAGON is surprisingly solid for a direct-to-DVD film. Lovecraft still doesn't have a definative film to do his work justice, so we'll just have to hope that Guillermo Del Toro's ambitious AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS film will someday be greenlit.