Dagon (2001) + Extras
Dagon (2001) + Extras
DVDRip | AVI | 720 x 400 | XviD @ 1741 Kbps | 98 min | 1,47 Gb + 2x135 Mb
Audio: English-Spanish AC3 5.1 @ 384 Kbps | Subs (idx/sub): English, Spanish
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
DVDRip | AVI | 720 x 400 | XviD @ 1741 Kbps | 98 min | 1,47 Gb + 2x135 Mb
Audio: English-Spanish AC3 5.1 @ 384 Kbps | Subs (idx/sub): English, Spanish
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, the undisputed master of the macabre, Dagon tells the story of Paul Marsh, a young man who discovers that the truth will not set him free instead it condemns him to a waking nightmare of unrelenting horror. A boating accident off the coast of Spain sends Paul and his girlfriend Barbara to the decrepit fishing village of Imboca looking for help. As night falls, people start to disappear and things not quite human start to appear. Paul finds himself pursued by the entire town. Running for his life, he uncovers Imboca's dark secret: that they pray to Dagon, a monstrous god of the sea. And Dagon's unholy offspring are freakish half-human creatures on the loose in Imboca…
Stuart Gordon's horror classic, Re-Animator (1985), has long been a fan favorite, and it really helped cement the symbiotic connection the director has with the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Though there has been a number of Lovecraft-inspired film projects over the years�The Dunwich Horror (1970), Die, Monster, Die! (1965) and Gordon's own From Beyond (1986)�very few have been able to completely capture the pervasive darkness that permeates his writings. Horror fans should be quite pleased that Gordon and Re-Animator screenwriter Dennis Paoli have brought yet another Lovecraft adaptation directly to DVD (at least stateside) with the fishy creepiness that is Dagon.
When a yacht off the coast of Spain crashes into some rocks during a sudden storm, the four occupants are forced to seek help from the eerie fishing village of Imboca. Big mistake. Paul (Band of Brothers Brit, Ezra Godden, here sporting an American accent) and Barbara (Spanish television star Raquel Merono) head ashore, while the injured Vicki (Birgit Bofarull) stays behind, along with husband Howard (Brendan Price). Suffice to say, it becomes clear that things are going to go quite badly for them when the first townsperson they meet is a pasty-faced, web-fingered priest (Ferr�n Lahoz). Without revealing too much more of the story, understand that the remaining ninety minutes are a rain-soaked nightmare of shuffling, mutated villagers, a creepy church, dirty toilets, an incredibly gory face-peeling and the unbelievably sexy, tentacle-legged Uxia (Macarena Gomez).
Dagon is actually a deft merging of two Lovecraft stories (Dagon and The Shadow Over Innsmouth), and the blending by Paoli is almost seamless. There are sequences that are lifted almost directly from the original, much of them dialogue-free, including the tense scene where Paul has to quickly unscrew a lock from one door to re-attach it to another in order to prevent a horde of murderous Imbocans from getting into his hotel room. Though there have been some geographical changes to the story, the Paoli screenplay of Dagon genuinely captures the feel of a Lovecraft story, and Gordon has once again proven himself to be able to reflect that visually, as well.
To keep things a little off balance, the villagers often speak a mixture of Spanish and Gallego, and Gordon refrains from supplying translated subtitles, which only adds to the element of confusion and paranoia for the viewer, much like the character of Paul experiences in the film. Even Spanish film star Francisco Rabal (who passed away shortly after filming) speaks in such heavily-accented English that it adds to the weird, unsettling vibe of not being able to fully understand him either (unless you opt for the English subtitles).
Watching Dagon made me realize that I haven't truly enjoyed a horror film as much as this in quite a long while (though Ginger Snaps and The Convent immediately come to mind); it is perverse, grim and wonderfully evil. In other words, pure Lovecraft.
Dagon (2001) + Extras
Dagon (2001) + Extras
Dagon (2001) + Extras
Dagon (2001) + Extras
Extras:
- Audio Commentary by Stuart Gordon and Dennis Paoli in AC3-file
- Audio Commentary by Stuart Gordon and Ezra Godden in AC3-file