When Paul Marsh wakes from a dream about a mermaid with razor-sharp teeth, he's not in the best of moods. This leads to a squabble with his girlfriend, Barbara, but the bickering is quickly forgotten when a sudden and violent storm sweeps in.
The storm drives the boat they're staying on into some rocks, smashing a hole in the hull and trapping one of their friends in the wreckage. While that woman's husband stays with her, Paul and Barbara climb into a dinghy in a desperate attempt to seek assistance in a local village.
Unfortunately, the little town of Imbocca is most definitely not a place to look for safe harbour. In their efforts to survive the storm, Paul, Barbara and their friends have put more than just their lives at risk ...
Despite its title, Dagon is not an adaptation of the H P Lovecraft story of the same name. It is, however, based on another of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos stories, 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth'. And as an adaptation of that tale, while it differs a lot in the details - featuring in particular a lot more violence and nudity - it is actually reasonably faithful to the basic story arc.
And that combination of 'faithful in the broad strokes while adding a lot of sex and violence' should probably not be a surprise, coming as the film does from Stuart Gordon, who in 1985 gave us the wonderfully goofy squick of Re-Animator. Schlocky though that film definitely was, it was a fun watch.
Despite its title, Dagon is not an adaptation of the H P Lovecraft story of the same name. It is, however, based on another of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos stories, 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth'. And as an adaptation of that tale, while it differs a lot in the details - featuring in particular a lot more violence and nudity - it is actually reasonably faithful to the basic story arc.
And that combination of 'faithful in the broad strokes while adding a lot of sex and violence' should probably not be a surprise, coming as the film does from Stuart Gordon, who in 1985 gave us the wonderfully goofy squick of Re-Animator. Schlocky though that film definitely was, it was a fun watch.
Dagon is unfortunately not up to delivering the same amount of entertainment. Some of this is the fault of the script: in particular the fact that the opening squabble on the boat doesn't make either our leading man or his love interest seem very appealing people. Some of it is the production. The film's action sequences are not generally well-staged and on at least one occasion are were executed so poorly that the only fitting description is "thoroughly laughable". The film also suffers from the inclusion of cheap noughties-era CGI, which is particularly a shame given that when it relies on old school practical effects, they're genuinely rather good. Though very gruesome, I should note. If you have a weak stomach for gore and grue, be warned.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment for me though is the cast. Though I have to say this is not because of anything the actors do. On the whole they are quite acceptable in their roles. It's just that as I was watching the film, I found myself thinking on several occasions "Dang, I wish this movie was made 16 years earlier, so Jeffrey Combs could have starred - he'd have been great in this!". And in fact, it seems that Stuart Gordon had indeed planned to do more Lovecraft-based films with Combs after 1986's From Beyond, but they didn't manage to make the films happen at that time. A real shame, I think. It would have got rid of the cheapie CGI, if nothing else!
One final note, because it needs to be mentioned: even for the deeply racist time in which he lived, H P Lovecraft was notoriously, egregiously racist. This fact often came through in his work. While the basic themes of 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth' definitely reflect his xenophobia and prejudice, the film is thankfully spared the the smug, judgemental superiority of Lovecraft's narration.
Still, ultimately, I think Dagon is probably for hard-core Mythos-fans only.
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