Milo-Jeeder In "Dagon", Paul and his girlfriend, Barbara, go on a trip to Spain, but after suffering an accident with their boat, they end up stranded in a gloomy harbor port called Imboca. After a series of incidents, Paul becomes separated from his girlfriend, so he goes on a search all around the town to find her. For some reason, the villagers from Imboca are out to get Paul, but he manages to escape the angry horde. Through the story of a homeless guy named Ezequiel, Paul learns that several years ago, there was a fish shortage in the town of Imboca, which caused a lot of despair among the villagers. One day, an evil sailor introduced the townspeople to a new god called Dagon and forced them to abandon their catholic religion. Dagon eventually brought a lot of wealth to the town, but in return, he demanded live sacrifices and women to breed with him. Progressively, Imboca became a dark and isolated place, inhabited by fish-like creatures, which live to worship their beastly god. During Paul's search, he comes across a strange "girl" named Uxia, who is also the high priestess of the Order of Dagon and she seems to be in love with him. Paul decides to continue with his search, unaware of the fact that the townspeople, led by Uxia, want to offer Barbra as a sacrifice to Dagon.Director Stuart Gordon offers a dark and even depressing atmosphere in this film that deals with the classic theme of innocent people stranded in a deserted place, where they meet a gruesome fate. While the story is simple, as it mostly features Paul escaping from the angry villagers, it manages to provide an hour and a half of genuine horror with dignity, avoiding never ending fillers that lead to nothing. In some way, I suppose "Dagon" may sound similar to a zombie flick, but in this case, it seems like the angry horde actually has something personal against Paul, which makes the whole thing more intriguing, since we don't get to know why, until the very end. Paul's quest becomes exciting, as we get to see the mysteries surrounding Imboca slowly unraveling. My main satisfaction with this film is due to the perfect location, because I believe that the filming locations are very relevant in these types of horror films, where the setting usually works as another character that interacts with the rest. The fictional town of Imboca (which is actually called Combarro) makes the perfect horror scenery for this nightmare-like story; it looks frightening, even depressing, and it is always raining heavily throughout the entire film, which makes things even more difficult for the main character. Aside from the Combarro landscapes, we see a decaying hotel that seems to have been deserted for a long time, which gives a feeling of uneasiness and discomfort. Abandoned places always seem to provoke distress, because they give the feeling that they are cut out from the rest of society, the modern civilized word and its false securities. The Spanish architecture of the houses and mansions are somehow more unpolished and rustic than the architecture that we normally see in American horror films, and I find this rusticity to be also frightening, as it gives me the idea that the people from this place have some kind of a ferocious nature and aren't exactly tamed. As for the bizarre villains, which in this case are mostly the townspeople, I thought this was a great achievement; the idea of merging humans and sea creatures as the main antagonists is perfect. These characters hardly ever talk, they mostly make strange noises, they walk around in a weird animalistic way, and most of them cover their pale fish-like faces with scarves and the rest of their bodies with black hooded raincoats. In a way, it reminded me of a zombie film, since these villagers move together in a horde without a mind, chasing the only humans in the town, because they want something from them. Of course, I have seen my share of zombie films and while I can enjoy them from time to time, I found these strange fish-like creatures to be more interesting and scary. The music in "Dagon", composed by Carl Cases is also very fitting. We mostly get to hear the same music throughout the entire film, in which a woman and a chorus of men chant a darkly appealing melody that helps to create a mystical and depressing atmosphere. Of course, I don't think "Dagon" is the perfect film. My main problem with this film is the bad CGI; not only because it looks extremely cheap and amateurish, but also, because it is completely unnecessary. This film could have been much better without this horrible CGI, and while I cannot say that this ruined the movie for me, it cheapens it considerably. I have another criticism concerning the dialogs. Though "Dagon" mostly doesn't provide humor, unlike some of Gordon's previous horror films, I'm sure some of the dialogs in this film are supposed to be intentionally funny, and while I chuckled like it was intended, I find the humor to be out of place in a film like this. Based on "The Shadow over Innsmouth", this film is mostly regarded by Lovecraft fans as a noble effort that actually remains true to the atmosphere and structure of his story. In any case, Dennis Paoli, who writes most of the scripts for Gordon, deserves recognition as well, since "Dagon" doesn't take everything directly from Lovecraft's story. The film deals with a few recurring Lovecraftian elements, such as the impossibility to escape fate, religion and non-human influences on humanity, among others.

dragokin The problem with H.P. Lovecraft's work whether it should be labeled pulp fiction or art. Either way, he was the father of contemporary horror genre. For some reason there hasn't been any major studio production inspired by his work, apart from occasional mentioning in, for example, Pacific Rim.Dagon answered the dilemma about H.P. Lovecraft's writing with resolution: It was a trash flick. It has some atmosphere, though, but it remains a jewel for B and C movies aficionados.So, if you're not into horror movies, this might be to much for you. And if you've read Lovecraft work, Dagon wouldn't be the ultimate treat. The best part, in my opinion, was the scene with topless Raquel Meroño.

Scott LeBrun It's a pleasure to view a horror film that actually lives up to the *word* "horror". This film is like a nightmare that just goes on and on, with no real relief and no promise that there will be light at the end of its tunnel. It shows its characters no real mercy, and is absolutely overwhelmed by a constantly threatening atmosphere. Note that once the sun disappears in this story, it stays gone. ("Dagon" *has* to be a leading contender for rainiest film of all time.) Director Stuart Gordon and screenwriter Dennis Paoli, old hands at adapting the works of H.P. Lovecraft, don't spend very much time easing you into this madness. Some of the performances are excellent and the dialogue is quite literate. That's not to mention the fact that the visual effects and makeup effects are overall superb. The sets and the lighting are perfect for the material. And it's all topped off with an unnerving, ominous music score composed by Carles Cases.Of course, Lovecraft buffs know that this only takes the title of one Lovecraft short story, and is actually an adaptation of a different one, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". It stars Ezra Godden as Paul Marsh, on vacation with his sexy wife Barbara (Raquel Merono) with another couple off the coast of Spain. Trouble arises with their boat, a storm arises, and Paul & Barbara make it to the coastal town of Imboca. Here the people behave very strangely; in fact, they're all something other than human and have been praying to Dagon, a monstrous god of the sea, for a long time. And they have plans for Paul and Barbara.Giving "Dagon" some heart and soul is the robust performance of veteran Francisco Rabal ("Belle de Jour", "Nightmare City"), in one of his final roles (the film is dedicated to the late actor). He's basically our exposition provider but does a wonderful job. You quickly become attached to this character and lament his departure from the story. As for Godden and the character of Paul, they may be a matter of taste as it takes a while for Paul to change from agitated nerd to ass kicking hero. The ladies are lovely; also capturing our attention is Macarena Gomez as Uxia, the mysterious young woman who's instantly smitten with Paul.Genre fans will likely have a fine time with this one. It's good, grim entertainment that truly creates a little world of its own.Eight out of 10.

iamwhitewica The story behind the movie is good. It could actually be a great movie that stands time, but instead of this it looks like a movie acted by high school kids. I don't know if the actors in this movie have ever acted before but they are really bad.The main character is such an idiot I even compared it to someone we know. It was even more funny. But this movie should not be funny that is the whole point. The bad acting made us wonder if it was another of those horror-comedy film that are numerous at the moment.Anyway, the story is good and it is worth watching. My warning is: don't let the main character stress you, he is a bad actor, just don't listen to him too much, you won't miss the main plot anyway, he is the main character but acts like a comic relief...a kind of Robin, and the girl is more like Batman but they gave her a second role. I guess she was eclipsing the main guy too much!