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Dagon (2001)
Though Lovecraft’s influence on the horror genre is prevalent, there are few direct adaptions of his works. Dagon, helmed by Stuart Gordon, is taken from HPL’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth and Dagon, and it’d be difficult to find another adaption with a more faithfully ominous atmosphere.
The story follows small vacationing group that ends up shipwrecked after a turbulent storm. Paul Marsh, the central protagonist of the group, is mysteriously drawn to a small local fishing village called Imboca. Unfortunately for Paul, Imboca happens to be inhabited by fish people (FISH PEOPLE!) that emphatically preach the power of Dagon. Before we’re given any significant thrills, the atmosphere (enforced by the murky village and intimidating townsfolk) is built up extremely well. Maybe a little too well, as the film’s plot exposition hardly lives up to the mounting atmosphere.
The town of Imboca is pervaded by boarded up windows, unkempt buildings overrun with vines, and omnipresent rainfall. The often dark cinematography is also illuminated by flashes of lightning. The fish populace (not the smartest antagonists) effectually act like zombies with funny vocal chords, but they can be creepy. There’s also some decent occult-ish set design, and a constant two-tone color scheme of cool blue (mostly outdoors) and yellow (mostly indoors).
Paul Marsh is played by Ezra Godden in a somewhat hammy performance. His character starts off as a whiny, business driven poindexter that annoys the locals by attempting Spanish by adding ‘o’ to the end of every English word. By the end of the film, his character develops into a slightly less whiny poindexter that annoys the locals by setting a few on fire. The rest of the cast is pretty decent. In particular, the town priest is great (channeling Bela Lugosi), and the town drunkard (played by Francisco Rabal in one of his last roles) is f*cking perfect with his timeworn, scarred face, broken dialogue, and vocal chords that sound like they were put through a blender and drenched with alcohol.
I suppose the budget (or lack thereof) shows in the special effects. The monster make-up is fine and dandy, but the PS2-esque CGI was probably dated back in 2001, and some of the ‘gold’ props look a little too plastic-y. The music is absent during most of the thrill scenes (this heightens the immersion and suspense so much), and the more mystical parts of the story are accompanied by beautifully ominous choir and harp music. There are some overused clichés (such as tripping during a chase scene or dropping an item when it’s needed), but they don’t cast a long shadow.
Beyond the despondent setting and macabre story, Dagon is sort of a comedy in disguise. There are no musical cues, and the humor isn’t as overt as something like Re-Animator, but it’s hard to deny the humor in Paul Marsh pulling a fish man’s coat around his shoulders, kicking him in the groin, and repeatedly smacking him in the head with a cell phone when he’s down. Many of these wonderful moments are accentuated by amusing clobbering samples as well. Despite this, there’s actually some really well paced suspense and one particularly disturbing moment involving a priest and some divine knives. Dagon is a rare film that’s equal parts cheesy b-movie and genuinely atmospheric horror, and can give you the virtues of both.
Though Lovecraft’s influence on the horror genre is prevalent, there are few direct adaptions of his works. Dagon, helmed by Stuart Gordon, is taken from HPL’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth and Dagon, and it’d be difficult to find another adaption with a more faithfully ominous atmosphere.
The story follows small vacationing group that ends up shipwrecked after a turbulent storm. Paul Marsh, the central protagonist of the group, is mysteriously drawn to a small local fishing village called Imboca. Unfortunately for Paul, Imboca happens to be inhabited by fish people (FISH PEOPLE!) that emphatically preach the power of Dagon. Before we’re given any significant thrills, the atmosphere (enforced by the murky village and intimidating townsfolk) is built up extremely well. Maybe a little too well, as the film’s plot exposition hardly lives up to the mounting atmosphere.
The town of Imboca is pervaded by boarded up windows, unkempt buildings overrun with vines, and omnipresent rainfall. The often dark cinematography is also illuminated by flashes of lightning. The fish populace (not the smartest antagonists) effectually act like zombies with funny vocal chords, but they can be creepy. There’s also some decent occult-ish set design, and a constant two-tone color scheme of cool blue (mostly outdoors) and yellow (mostly indoors).
Paul Marsh is played by Ezra Godden in a somewhat hammy performance. His character starts off as a whiny, business driven poindexter that annoys the locals by attempting Spanish by adding ‘o’ to the end of every English word. By the end of the film, his character develops into a slightly less whiny poindexter that annoys the locals by setting a few on fire. The rest of the cast is pretty decent. In particular, the town priest is great (channeling Bela Lugosi), and the town drunkard (played by Francisco Rabal in one of his last roles) is f*cking perfect with his timeworn, scarred face, broken dialogue, and vocal chords that sound like they were put through a blender and drenched with alcohol.
I suppose the budget (or lack thereof) shows in the special effects. The monster make-up is fine and dandy, but the PS2-esque CGI was probably dated back in 2001, and some of the ‘gold’ props look a little too plastic-y. The music is absent during most of the thrill scenes (this heightens the immersion and suspense so much), and the more mystical parts of the story are accompanied by beautifully ominous choir and harp music. There are some overused clichés (such as tripping during a chase scene or dropping an item when it’s needed), but they don’t cast a long shadow.
Beyond the despondent setting and macabre story, Dagon is sort of a comedy in disguise. There are no musical cues, and the humor isn’t as overt as something like Re-Animator, but it’s hard to deny the humor in Paul Marsh pulling a fish man’s coat around his shoulders, kicking him in the groin, and repeatedly smacking him in the head with a cell phone when he’s down. Many of these wonderful moments are accentuated by amusing clobbering samples as well. Despite this, there’s actually some really well paced suspense and one particularly disturbing moment involving a priest and some divine knives. Dagon is a rare film that’s equal parts cheesy b-movie and genuinely atmospheric horror, and can give you the virtues of both.