Dagon (2001)

After their boat sinks, a young couple finds refuge in a decadent Spanish fishing town with half-human dwellers and an ancient deity waiting to rise again.

It’s been months that I wanted to write about Dagon. I first watched it on VHS in 2001 and was left in awe. Throughout the years, I forgot a lot about it, though, and moved on. Part of the reason is that I wasn’t the avid admirer of H.P. Lovecraft that I am now. Another reason is that I didn’t “read” films like I do now. The beloved writer, producer, and director Stuart Gordon sadly passed away in March. Gordon was a loyal Lovecraft fan who honoured him with films such as this one, Reanimator (1985) and Castle Freak (1995).

Ezra Godden and Raquel Meroño make a brilliant on-screen couple and I for one, I can’t hide my admiration for Raquel. Also, the last film of Francisco Rabal. The location is eerie, the story is thrilling, and the plot is horrifying. Good, old-fashioned storytelling that makes Dagon a smashing adaptation of “The Shadow Over Innsmouth”. There is only one downside: The visual effects. Unfortunately, there are sequences that VFX will put you off, especially if you watch it for the first time now. My advice is just to turn a blind eye. It’s been almost 20 years, and it is a low-budget film. Let this one slide and get a small taste of Lovecraft’s petrifying mixture of “dream and reality”. I believe I have watched every H.P. Lovecraft adaptation to date. Beside Dagon, my top 3 are:

1. In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
2. Color out of Space (2019)
3. The Lighthouse (2019): (very loosely / inspired by)

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