Rating: 
Summary: Gordon's best in fifteen years? Not bloody likely.
Review: Dagon (Stuart Gordon, 2001)After fifteen long years of production, Stuart Gordon's original follow-up to Re-Animator finally finds itself released. In the interim, of course, Gordon has directed a number of other films, most of which, says the going wisdom, didn't live up to the original Re-Animator. (I disagree, but that's beside the point.) Predictably, the biggest blurb on the video cover says... "Stuart Gordon's best since Re-Animator!" Caveat emptor. For once, Gordon finds himself working with a relatively high-powered cast on a Lovecraft adaptation. Ezra Godden (Band of Brothers) is the hapless hero and boyfriend of the hapless female lead, TV actress Raquel Merono. The two are in a boating accident off a small, rocky island off the coast of Spain, where they go to try and find help. Needless to say, since it's based n a Lovecraft story, "help" is not what it seems. Trust the village priest (Ferran Lahoz [Faust]) or the village nutcase (the late capo di tutti capi of Spanish cinema, Franceso Rabal [Tie me Up! Tie Me Down!])? And why is everyone dressed in those bulky raincoats? It's a Stuart Gordon film, so you know it's going to rank high on the Joe Bob Briggs scale of greatness: lots of blood, lots of breasts, and the highest number of beasts per capita since Romero's Day of the Dead. You can also rest assured that the special effects are going to be cheesy at best. This is Stuart Gordon; the cheese factor is always high. I mean, the man gave Jeffrey Combs a career. But too much about the film says that the cheese factor is at times unintentional. The CGI (for one can lo longer make a horror film that does not contain CGI) is painfully obvious in and around the shipwreck scene. More noticeably, there's a scene after Godden and Merono reach the mainland where Godden accidentally gets a large, nasty fishhook embedded in the palm of his left hand and has to extract it. The scene would have been stomach-turning if that hand hadn't so obviously been made of rubber. (Note to self: rubber and skin do not look alike when wet.) If you can get past the cheese factor, the story is vintage Lovecraft ("The Shadow over Innsmouth"), the acting is, well, better than usual for a Gordon flick, and the sets are gorgeous (it was shot on location in Spain). But both Dolls and From Beyond are markedly better-filmed than this. For Gordon completists, but the novice will want to start with one of those two or Re-Animator. ** ½
Rating: 
Summary: I've seen a lot better.
Review: Unlike what else is being said here, I found this movie to be actually quite humorous just in its poor quality. I will say that humor is much in the same style of the last two movies in the Evil Dead trilogy EXCEPT our Dagon hero can't act. The special effects we're pretty bad as well. In fact, this review is starting to not even be worth my time. Just take my advice. If you REALLY want to watch this, rent it first!!! Get it on VHS if you can in order to avoid the extra [X] DVD charge from Blockbuster...
Rating: 
Summary: Creepy Surrealistic Masterpiece
Review: Dagon is an extraordinary film worthy in some respects of David Lynch. The film's Spanish location at first put me off as did the thick accent of some of the actors. However I soon found that this choice in casting and filming was an initial step into the strange and foreign where everyday reality twists itself into the shape of the monstrous and grotesque. Dagon is truly Lovecraftian in spirit as well as content and the gorgeous cinematography, the shambling demented forms, the gurgling voices and constant rain grip our lead as he tries to slog and shift his way through the demented world where he is trapped. Francisco Rabal, who plays a tortured old drunk whose life has been destroyed by the sinister seaside village, is absolutely wonderful and turns in the best performance I have seen in any film in recent memory. While his speech can be difficult to follow, there is a wild power and authority behind the words that make the indecipherable pieces frightening in themselves. Stuart Gordon has revealed himself to be a master filmmaker like Lynch or even Todd Browning. While I felt Reanimator was a little too campy when I saw it years ago, seeing Dagon makes me want to catch that again as well as anything else Gordon has done or will do. I'm simply awed by the artistry of this film. And assuming you want to make it a double feature for a near-perfect Friday night with the lights out and plenty of popcorn on hand, you might want to pick up Sea Creature too. This film is not by Gordon but is very Lovecraftian in scope and followers of Dagon everywhere would do well to plop their tentacles on the couch and view it.
Rating: 
Summary: So, so bad
Review: Stuart Gordon snoozerama. Filmed in Spain, with a 99% Spanish cast and all Spanish crew. Reminds one of bad Argento or Polanski, maybe even 70's Italian spatter. Only if you have seen every movie on the New Release shelf at Blockbuster should you try to rent this. Loved Re-Animator, nearly fell asleep on this meandering night of the living dead nonsense. Only scene worth your time:some guy gets his face pulled off, slowly, and with nary a flinch from the camera. I'm stingy with my stars, though. HP Lovecraft deserves better.
Rating:
Summary: This is a very good movie and good take on a good story!
Review: I didn't know what to think about this movie at first. The plot had some very big holes in it among some other things that I thought could use some help (like the acting). I had rented the movie because I wasn't sure that I wanted to buy it or not. At first I didn't think that I was going to add it to my collection. But the more that I watched this movie the move I liked it. I have definitely not ever seen a movie quite like this one. I guess I could say that it kind of grew on me. I have purchased it now and I can say without a doubt that it is one of the better horror movies that I have seen in a long time. It has good gore (there is one scene that is not for the faint of heart), a good story line (except for a few holes) and some gratuitous nudity as well. There is a creepy atmosphere that works very well for this movie. They couldn't have picked a better location for shooting this film. The little fishing village looks like a very interesting place. All in all this is a very unique movie. Add it to your collection. Or at the very least rent it. You will not be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: More Lovecraft goodness
Review: I enjoy Lovecraft's stories, and the Cthulhu mythos tales especially. One of his creepier tales is "A Shadow Over Innsmouth". It's the story of a town whose people are hybrids of human and an ancient sea dwelling race called the Deep Ones. An outsider comes to the town and is pursued by the shambling, gurgling villagers as he discovers their dark secrets. The film "Dagon" is based on the Lovecraft story. To cut down on costs, the production is filmed in Spain rather than New England (the location of the Lovecraft stories). This actually works well. The coastal town has a damp, run down feel and the locals speaking another language further alienates the main characters. A boating accident causes a young couple to have to paddle to a fishing town inhabited by strange, malformed people. As in the Lovecraft story, they soon find trouble. It all culminates with a sinister ceremony to Dagon, one of those dark gods of the sea. It is all well done and pretty effective. The actors are all pretty much unknowns. The standout is the woman who plays the priestess. She is both creepy and beautiful at the same time. She dominates every scene she is in. My only complaint is the use of some poor CGI effects. They did so well with so little through the rest of the film, it's a shame they resort to budget CGI that snaps you out of the mood when it appears. Better effects are shown in video game cutscenes. Overall, this is solid saturday night beer and pretzel viewing. Not fit for the kiddies. There are a couple of pretty gruesome effects. Now if they would just make a movie based on The Call of Cthulhu...
Rating: 
Summary: I got a similar creepy feeling as I got from the books
Review: I liked this film. I'm a casual Lovecraft fan, and have looked for Lovecraft-based films all my life. Dagon did for me what Lovecraft's books do for me - creeped me out, a little. I like that. I think it's got the most true-to-form Lovecraftian-feel to it than any other film to date. I liked recognizing direct references from the books, those "shambling, bleating, misshappen forms" chasing our reluctant hero; the church, that was once wholesomely Christian, converted to something else - not overtly bad but mysterious and strange, etc. I have a tendency to pick out the good things I like in a film, and ignore the bad as much as possible; and I didn't find the bad stuff too distracting. The acting, characters, faithfulness to story, effects, music, and overall feeling were all decent enough to get the job done: creep me out, a little. A job well done! Ia! Ia!
Rating:
Summary: eerie
Review: Director Stuart Gordon's latest offering is a really creepy little gem which generates a fantastic feeling of dread.The dvd has a brilliant Dolby Digital sound mix which greatly adds to the atmosphere.Interesting music too.The only thing that bothered me slightly was the attempt by the lead actor to inject some humour Bruce Campbell style into the proceedings.It would have been more effective played completely straight.
Rating:
Summary: Hey, Macarena!
Review: "Dagon" is a B-grade (in the good sense) horror movie that suffers, rather than being helped, by being a close adaptation of Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." The movie does not bring Lovecraft to the screen (I'm convinced that's impossible), and I think any viewers trying to force themselves to believe that Gordon has successfully channelled Lovecraft is going to be disappointed. The film, however, is effective on its own merits, and if so viewed, it's highly satisfying. The key to watching this movie is to recognize that the story revolves not around Paul, the ostensible lead, but around Uxia, the libidinous, oddly-beautiful priestess played by Macarena Gomez. It's not necessarily scripted that way, it just happens. Whenever Uxia is on the screen, she owns the show; whenever she is off the screen, you're waiting for her to come back. She's evil, but you're pulling for her anyway. Fortunately, the parts of the movie where Uxia appears are those parts where the story most diverges from its source, so the viewer can be less distracted. The way the movie played out (going into spoiler territory here), the face ripping, the impregnation by the camera-shy monster, the trail of human corpses, the incest, Uxia's peculiar anatomy -- all that just didn't seem to matter. I wanted Uxia to have her way (even if her idea of the perfect mate left something to be desired). In the end, because of the power of this character, "Dagon" is not so much an adaptation of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" as a really twisted retelling of the movie "Splash."
Rating:
Summary: Interesting.
Review: There is one major problem with this movie. Some have complained about the special effects, but to me that's eye candy. And these looked realer than in some big budget block busters. (The dark lighting of the movie helped alot) Some have complained over the writing, especially the use of the F word. But the main character is American, and...trust me, those words would be said. The major problem is..the lead actor. He, quite plainly, [is not good]. He can do anger seemingly well enough for this type of movie, but ask him to go beyond it and he seems to get a confused look on his face. The smaller problem is the writing. Most of it, I enjoyed surprisingly. The thing is, as the actor has no reaction to some revelations (Whether true or false) the writer seems to write in no verbal reaction. The genius of this movie is the little touches. The things most people would not have put in. This is why I give it 3 stars, instead of 2. The no blinking, that makes a normal person blink more, is quite simply the thing I thought they'd forget. The fact they don't overtly explain why they rip off faces, but let you see for yourself. The ending is predictable, however, if you read Shadow over Innsmouth. Sadly, if you haven't read Shadow over Innsmouth, the movie becomes far less enjoyable. It's a very bad tradeoff. If you're a fan of Lovecraft, but aren't uptight about having a 100% transfer from his stories, I say go ahead and rent this, and then decide for yourself if you want to buy it. ...If you aren't a fan of Lovecraft, or want a movie following one of his stories exactly, avoid at all costs.
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