Dagon (2001)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Drew S

  
  Of all the Lovecraft films, this is for some reason the easiest to remove from the Lovecraft mythos and just view as a relatively effective horror movie about fish people. Most of them tend to be an amalgamation of elements from many of his stories, rather than direct adaptations of… More
  Of all the Lovecraft films, this is for some reason the easiest to remove from the Lovecraft mythos and just view as a relatively effective horror movie about fish people. Most of them tend to be an amalgamation of elements from many of his stories, rather than direct adaptations of just one, but this treatment of The Shadow Over Innsmouth seems to have the most consistent aesthetic byline; stormy, decrepit and sinister, Dagon's fishing village is a perfect stage for seaside cult hijinks. Stuart Gordon's abilities and deficiencies as a director have never been clearer, and for every shadowy shot or menacing maw full of teeth he successfully captures, he treats us to an equal amount of awful characters or poorly delivered lines. The protagonist and his girlfriend are both spectacularly unlikeable, doubly ruined by Gordon's inability to direct or frame his actors, which makes them seem like nothing but awkward fake douchebags. Some of the supporting performances aren't too awful, but much like Re-Animator, you won't be remembering the film for its characterization. The story also suffers from Suspiria Syndrome, not bothering to forward the narrative during any of the "horror segments" and instead lumping all of its exposition into one intolerable ten-minute flashback. Writer though he is clearly not, Gordon knows how to put together an entertaining movie, and between the waterlogged bits of gnarly imagery and some pretty nifty gore, Dagon is sure to be a suitable horror snack in between more significant films.

• Wahida K

  
  Nothing special but recommendable!

• Adam M

  
  This weirdo fish-out-of-water story turns the metaphor upside-down ... Gordon delivers suspenseful exposition and atmosphere, and schlock that keeps it real. The people here sacrifice themselves in a single choice: either remain human and die in fearful anguish, or worship another god… More
  This weirdo fish-out-of-water story turns the metaphor upside-down ... Gordon delivers suspenseful exposition and atmosphere, and schlock that keeps it real. The people here sacrifice themselves in a single choice: either remain human and die in fearful anguish, or worship another god and take on a whole way of being, one that looks monstrous from the human, mortal perspective. It looks like death too, inside a nightmare about Forever. But to the believers in Dagon it may be something else. In this movie, it's Eternal Fate that "is it's own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." A total downer, but a very philosophical one. And before I saw Raquel Mereno here, I didn't think that the supermodel kind of beauty could signify Life and the modest wish for human happiness.

• _kelly .

  
  The most appealing and stunningly well done achievement of the film is creating a consistent and terrifying depiction of a village dedicated to the extreme and orthodox religious worship of the dark Elder Gods; this is a place you could only want to visit in nightmares. Because the… More
  The most appealing and stunningly well done achievement of the film is creating a consistent and terrifying depiction of a village dedicated to the extreme and orthodox religious worship of the dark Elder Gods; this is a place you could only want to visit in nightmares. Because the village and in its inhabitants are so effective, I am ratcheting my score to four stars. The language sounds great, which is pretty key to portraying occultists and creatures of Lovecraftian realms; this is for horror what Tolkien is for fantasy in terms of film adaptation. And weird I should think of LotR, because Stuart Gordon has in effect done a Lovecraft library of adaptations to screen; it's not just three movies, but it is well more than LotR extended cuts. Gordon varies in how people rate his adherence to Lovecraft ideals, I too fluctuate on my like for his renderings of these stories. I love this one. But that isn't to say there aren't some problems.

• Kylie B

  
  An enjoyable adaptation - though the plot is a mishmash of Dagon and The Shadow Over Innsmouth with some original elements. It is good on small details (e.g. the protagonist wearing a Miskatonic Uni sweatshirt) and rather atmospheric. The score is haunting but the computer generated… More
  An enjoyable adaptation - though the plot is a mishmash of Dagon and The Shadow Over Innsmouth with some original elements. It is good on small details (e.g. the protagonist wearing a Miskatonic Uni sweatshirt) and rather atmospheric. The score is haunting but the computer generated special effects are rather obvious. I'm not sure why they decided to set it in Spain either.

• Tsubaki S

  
  Acceptable, while still flawed Lovecraft adaptation. Macarena Gomez do provides some fapable eye candy.

• Lafe F

  
  Cool H.P. Lovecraft inspired monster movie on a boat, an island, and a creepy old house. Quite gorey and engaging.

• Daniel H

  
  It's one of the best Lovecraftian movies behind the Reanimator... and frankly, the only one dealing with a major Mythos theme, such as Innsmouth, to a recognizable degree. Sadly, whilst being the best, it is also terrible. The Cthulhu Mythos is a theme that can never translate… More
  It's one of the best Lovecraftian movies behind the Reanimator... and frankly, the only one dealing with a major Mythos theme, such as Innsmouth, to a recognizable degree. Sadly, whilst being the best, it is also terrible. The Cthulhu Mythos is a theme that can never translate well into film, it seems. I hope someday I'll be proven wrong by some brilliant director.

• Steve B

  
  From the team that pretty much owns the bragging rights to Lovecraft adaptations (Gordon and Paoli), this might be the most faithful adaptation yet. Good stuff.

• Jacob P

  
  Weird...and not that good.

• Sylvester K

  
  A film that makes me remember forever. A really nice adaptation of Lovecraft's work.

• John M

  
  "Dagon" is an ok, fun to watch, decent but not great that is is base on H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". The CGI are ok for a low budget, the acting is quite decent, It has its good moments of scares, good atmosphere, blood and guts… More
  "Dagon" is an ok, fun to watch, decent but not great that is is base on H.P. Lovecraft's short story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". The CGI are ok for a low budget, the acting is quite decent, It has its good moments of scares, good atmosphere, blood and guts to keep horror fans happy. Decent movie from Stuart Gordon.

• Ed Fucking H

  
  I'm slightly embrassed to admit this (since Re-Animator is one of my favourite movies of all time and From Beyond is none too shabby either) but this is only the third Stuart Gordon film I've seen. This one came out in 2001 which leaves a big gap in his output for me. Where… More
  I'm slightly embrassed to admit this (since Re-Animator is one of my favourite movies of all time and From Beyond is none too shabby either) but this is only the third Stuart Gordon film I've seen. This one came out in 2001 which leaves a big gap in his output for me. Where the above mentioned films are both genre defyning classics for 80's horror, this is really just a slightly above average creature feature. ANYWAYS it is also really entertaining. At first I wasn't really sure what to make of what I was seeing. I actually didn't evn realise how much fun I was having with this untl about te 45 minute mark. At first I thought the concept of Fish People was ridiculous and the acting was kinda lame for the most part, but this is also really well paced, and there is a lot of good gore (a little CGI mixed in, but it usually isn't too cartoony). Never have read any H.P. Lovecraft so I don't know how faithful this is to the source material, but the story is pretty good. Some little inside jokes are in there too (the main character wearing a Miskatonic University sweater.) Anyways definently worth seeing. Above average on it's own merits, not as good as Re-Animator or From Beyond, but what is? Now to get around to some of these other films he's done.

Read all 13 featured audience ratings