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- Dagon - US DVD -  

I was not sure which movie I wanted to review next.  
Two things caused me to select Dagon.
It is based on writings of H.P. Lovecraft and  directed by Stuart Gordon
("Dolls", "Reanimator", "Castle Freak").
The movie is loosely based on two Lovecraft stories, "Dagon" & "The Shadow 
Over Innsmouth" (my personal favorite Lovecraft story). 
"Dagon" is one of Lovecrafts earlier works, written in 1917. It is a short 
story about a World War One sailor shipwrecked on a deserted island. 
The "Shadow Over Innsmouth" was one of Lovecrafts later works. It was published
in 1931. 
A member of the Marsh family returns to Innsmouth during a vacation in this 
tale. Here he finds his true family heritage. The movie starts with two couples
vacationing on a boat off the coast of Spain. Paul (Ezra Gooden) and Barbara 
(Raquel Merono) are a young couple who have recently become rich. Howard and
Vicki are the owners of the boat. Their vacation is quickly interrupted as 
a storm tosses the yacht onto a reef. Vicki is severely injured. Paul and 
Barbara take a raft into a coastal fishing village, Imbocca, for help.
Initially the movie seems to have the right ingredients for success. 
Stuart Gordon does a wonderful job showing an isolated fishing village with
odd inhabitants. 
The only telephone is in the rundown hotel. 
The only car is owned by a hunched and deformed town elder.  
No police or doctors are in the village.  
The protagonists find themselves completely cut off from the world. They are
at the mercy of the villages reclusive and brutal inhabitants. An air of 
tension and apprehension left me waiting for thrill after thrill.
We see how Imbocca and its inhabitants degenerated through the eyes of the
town drunk, Ezequiel (Francico Rabal).  
Many years ago, Imbocca sold its soul for fish and gold. A new god, Dagon, 
and his religion were brought to town. Christianity was thrown out. Human 
sacrifice became a part of religious services.
The first third of the movie is very enjoyable.  
Stuart Gordon seemed ready to fully bring Lovecraft to the big screen.  
He is one of the few directors capable of this.  
As a fan of Lovecraft I know how difficult this can be.
Lovecrafts writing is made to stir the individual imagination.
His writing was done before a time when movies and television had a major 
influence on writers.  
He mainly writes in the first person.  
The reader is able to understand the mental state of the narrator.
It is very complicated to transfer the narrators mental and emotional state 
to a script then to a movie.  
Stuart Gordon had possibly accomplished the best adaptation of brining 
Lovecraft to film in Reanimator.  
He was not able to completely pull it off in Dagon.
A few major flaws kept the movie from being successful.  
For the most part I found the special effect to be poor and at times did not 
bring anything to the movie.  
I have seen movies from the 1950s with better special effects.
The make up also did nothing for the movie.  
The towns people were much more hideous when their revolting features could
not be seen. They are more creepy when their gross deformities are hidden 
behind dark glasses, veils, hoods, hats, and scarves. When we see the actually
physical deformities, bulging eyes, slits on the sides of necks, mouths without
lips, heads turning fish-like, it does not seem real.
In Imbocca, the inhabitants are suffering the same horrors as those in Innsmouth.
They are slowly turning into sea creatures.
Paul seems to escape just too many times. It gets old. The plot becomes difficult
to follow.  
Three different languages are involved. Paul speaks English. Most of the villagers
speak Spanish. Plus as the villagers mutate, speech becomes difficult.
I felt the film just became nonsensical, boring, and lost its edge.
Hardcore Lovecraft fans might like it.  
For everyone else, stay away.
The acting was okay.  
Francico Rabal gave an above average performance as the town drunk. The problem
is that his speech is difficult to understand due to his heavy drinking.  
Raquel Merono was good as Barbara.
Lovecraft does not include many women in his writings. So it is difficult to 
include one in the script.  
Ezra Gooden was okay in the lead role.  
I thought he gave too quirky a performance at times. That caused several scenes 
to lose their intensity.
Since I really did not like the movie, I felt the same about the extras included 
on the DVD. 
Two commentaries are included. One is with director Stuart Gordon and writer 
Dennis Paoli. The other is with Gordon and Actor Ezra Gooden. I could not make
it through either.
My advice on Dagon, rent something else or read Lovecrafts, "The Shadow Over 
Innsmouth".

Reviewed By Scal Williams

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