Rating: 
Summary: Not one thing or the other.
Review: August 13, 2002I rented this one on a lark. I liked "Re-Animator" quite a
bit, and I hoped it might be similar. I found it lacking
on one hand as a gory, Grade 'B' horror flick and on the
other as a Lovecraft interpretation. The moral, I guess:
beware credits that list unknown European actresses and
foreign television production companies.
Rating: 
Summary: Major disapointment!
Review: Being a big fan of HP Lovecraft, and after reading some reviews, I decided to buy this DVD. BIG Mistake!
First, The first half of this movie is way too slow. I admit, that Lovecraft stories are not fast paced, but this really dragged. I actually turned it off, and watched the second half the next day.
Second, the main character is [not very bright]. He wasn't so in the storie(s). The writing and acting left much to be desired.
Third, the added gore towards the end was not needed. I've come to expect this from low budget movies, but its a poor substitute for good writing and acting.
I guess, that Lovecraft doesn't translate onto film well.
Rating:
Summary: A very weak film, especially from Stuart Gordon.
Review: The cover of this DVD quotes Fangoria as saying this is Stuart Gordon's best film since The Re-Animator. Absolutely not. Gordon's second film, the gruesome, claustrophobic From Beyond, certainly craps all over Dagon, and even the slow-moving The Pit and the Pendulum is much, much stronger. Dagon's biggest problem is its miserable acting. Looking at the opening titles, I might guess this project was funded by sources in Spain and therefore most of the cast was Spanish. Unfortunately, the actors are uniformly terrible: Raquel Merono as the screeching, annoying Barbara is just begging to be killed off right from the beginning; lead Ezra Godden tries to do the Jeffrey Combs kind of nerdy eccentric but just ends up flaccid and irritating...and for most of the film, we're following him around in his exploring- a-haunted-city shenanigans. "Sleep-inducing" is not a term I'd apply to any Gordon film before this, but that's how I'd describe most of Dagon. Dennis Paoli's screenplay really doesn't help the poor acting, with choice lines like, "You f--king bastards", "You'll rot in f--king hell"...it's as if Paoli, who had co-written the excellent screenplays for The Re-Animator and From Beyond, suddenly discovered the F-word and applied it to every other line; matched with the clumsy English of the Spanish cast, it's even more nerve-grating. As if that's not enough, you also get sprinklings of cheesy, fake-looking digital effects that simply serve to distract you from the film. There are two saving graces to this film: The cinematography is good, with the underwater finale (with a beautiful lamia) and the flame-lit sacrificial ritual being visual highlights, and there is some tension in the sacrifice scene despite the inherent unlikeability of the main characters. The violence in Dagon is well executed, but with such grating central characters, it is nowhere near as involving as the gleeful absurdity of the violence in The Re-Animator nor the messy, disturbing apocalypse of From Beyond. I wonder whether Gordon has lost his touch or whether he had artistic control wrested from him? The beginning of this film is a long, arduous series of credits citing companies that seem to be digital-production and -effects entities. Perhaps the investors interfered with the film? At any rate, it's hard to believe this film came from the maker of The-Reanimator, one of the best horror films ever made.
Rating: 
Summary: The best HPL adaptation, though that's not saying much
Review: Horror pioneer and genius H.P. Lovecraft has had an even shakier ride than Stephen King when it comes to screen adaptations. "Dagon", a blending of the stories "Dagon" and "The Shadow over Innsmouth" was clearly made by fans of Lovecrafts work, and is easily the best film ever adapted from it. Those unfamiliar with Lovecraft won't enjoy it as much, as you'll probably miss most of the references. I definitely advise watching the film with subtitles on, as some of the actors are not native English speakers and their lines can be very hard to understand.
Overall this is a solid "B" horror movie, with not too much gore and some genuine frights.
Rating:
Summary: What the hell were ppl talking about????
Review: good lord.. I read reviews that stated this was a wonderful horror film.. that had it substance and a wonderful story. The story may have been appropriate for the film.. but god what a horrible, dreadful movie!!! the story was stupid, the acting was surprisingly bad and the whole idea for making what I am sure was a wonderful story by lovecraft into a movie was the dumbest idea since peanutbutter and jelly slurpies!! don't see this movie.. in fact run to your local video store and burn every copy!!.. you'll be doin everyone else a favour!
Rating: 
Summary: Lovecraft On the Screen
Review: First off, at least some of the hype was true: this is the most overtly Lovecraftian film ever made. It nails HPL's obsessions one after another. You got your fear and loathing of the sea and ocean life, foreigners and religion, miscegenation and sexuality, alien cultures and all things organic, including (ulp) ourselves. It even does a decent job of conveying some of the weird awe Lovecraft could conjure up when dealing with cosmically alien plot elements.
The leading man will likely be seen as a liability by many of the film's viewers, but that is because he is the most Lovecraftian protagonist ever put on screen; he's weak, pale, neurotic and almost completely overwhelmed. The acting is uniformly solid. If you've seen the director's RE-ANIMATOR you have some idea of what Stuart Gordon can do, but where the earlier film is played like some outrageous cartoon, DAGON is played almost completely straight.
I feel the need to mention a couple of caveats. This is a B-movie. Was a time (not long ago) that I wouldn't feel the need to say anything about this, but here in the age of the blockbuster genre film with "seamless special effects" I guess some might feel cheated by anything less than an Industrial Light & Magic fireworks show. This isn't it. The film has atmosphere and suspense to burn, and the make up is excellent, but the CGI effects look just like CGI effects.
Also, although there really isn't that much violence in the film, when it does occur it is pretty hard to take. There is one scene that is as grisly as anything I've seen in a movie, bad enough that I imagine it might make a good number of viewers actually turn it off. Too bad, really. The scene runs the risk of eclipsing the rest of the film and being the only thing people remember about it.
Although much has been made of how the story is not a direct adaptation of any of HPL's works, this is simply not true. DAGON is 'Shadow Over Innsmouth'. Expanded, relocated and updated, but it's 'Innsmouth' in every important detail and plot point. Of course it's more lurid and in-your-face than HPL's stories ever were and makes absolutely explicit what he would merely suggest. But if you can accept that I think you'll find this a pretty gripping film.
I say Check It Out. It's not perfect, but it's an honest attempt to bring HPL's vision to life on screen.
Rating: 
Summary: dagon
Review: this was the most genuinely unsettling film that i've seen in a hell of a long time, probably since "suspiria". it truly captures the feel of the lovecraft short stories that i've read,
more particularly "shadow over innsmouth" than its' namesake.
i think my head exploded when i saw it...it's one to own.
Rating:
Summary: Into the Abyss......
Review: To those of you familiar with the books of H P Lovecraft this film should need little introduction. That is apart from the need to know that the time frame of this film has been updated to our time which for all intents and purposes adds rather than detracts from the overall creepiness. The plot can be found in the reviews below mine of which some stupidly give too much away which is strange for a forum like this that should be used to promote a cult film such as this otherwise we may not see its like again. I mean lets face it, once you know major plot spoilers it does ruin a film and may stop potential purchasers. Which would be a shame as originals in the field of cinema such as Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna should be allowed at least the grace of letting their movies be seen by as wide an audience as possible. This film was the one they had waited years to make before finally getting the green light to produce as faithful an adaption of Lovecrafts work as possible. And that is really all that needs to be said - if you love/like H P Lovecrafts work this is the nearest you will get to it on screen. If you've never heard of him but like intelligent horror with a healthy side order of black humour and gore then you will appreciate this just as much. Its just a pity that this film will sink without trace when put up against the redundant teen slasher flicks and pointless remakes/sequels of an already long dead genre.
Rating:
Summary: A decent remedy for the post-modern slasher movie blues
Review: I'm not all that familiar with H.P. Lovecraft... I've read a couple of stories but not the ones that this movie is based on. I'm approaching this strictly as a movie buff who gives the horror genre more credit than most do. Recently the genre has gone adrift with "Scream" knock-offs, but "Dagon" is played refreshingly straight. The first half or so was particularly good, with a nice set up and a genuinely creepy atmosphere. The fish-people are pretty hard to tell apart from your basic movie zombie, but the movie manages to keep them creepy without falling into camp. The music, sound, and cinematography are certainly the movie's strenghts. The chase scenes get a bit repetitive and my interest waned during the last act, but after the movie was over the atmosphere still lingered.
Rating:
Summary: Gordon+Lovecraft=Gold? Not exactly.
Review: Being a true Stuart Gordon fan, I have seen many of his previous films. Gordon has always been fascinated by Lovecraft, as is apparent in his previous ventures, From Beyond and the truly excellent Re-Animator. However, it seems that Gordon has fallen short upon his return to the Lovecraft era he so helped raise up.
Dagon represents a film that tries so hard to be a good film, but is riddled with problems from start to finish. Each actor in this film seems to be as uninteresting as the next. Paul's history is crucial to the film's ending, but is just barely consolidated in the opening montage. Paul's girlfriend falls into the cardboard role of strong female, only to obviously be taken away so our cowardly hero can emerge.
I guess my main problem with the film lies in it's use of bad actors. Paul can be decent, but falls into a sad spiral of the lost puppy dog face at the most inappropriate times. Everyone else shows how painfully obvious that English is their second language.
One of my biggest gripes deals with the finale. The film had every opportunity to have a heroic entrance for Paul, like Herbert West in Re-Animator, but seemed to just throw him into the scene, leaving me feeling empty instead of the hope he was trying to convey.
To be positive, i have to say that this film probably contains one of the goriest scenes of all time. I won't give it away, but needless to say it is brutal. I also found Paul's transformation to be a breath of fresh air, only to be ruined by the aforementioned lack of heroic entrance.
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