Director: Stuart Gordon (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Re-animator)
Writer: H.P. Lovecraft (he wrote this story in 1917; plus, he wroter Re-animator)
Screenwriter: Dennis Paoli (The Dentist, Re-animator)
Starring: Ezra Godden (The Package, lots of T.V.); Francisco Rabal (LOTS of foreign films...this one was dedicated to him, evidently he died either during or shortly after); Raquel Merono (nothing but foreign films)
IMDB user rating: 6.2 out of 10 stars
When you see a movie description that states: "A businessman & his girlfriend arrive in a village inhabited by fish like creatures which practice human sacrifice", you almost have to watch it. The concept is original, and has a ton of potential: two couples on a sailboat holiday off the coast of a Spanish village that's cursed by a fish god named Dagon. Never mind the fact that it's adapted from a short story written by H.P. Lovecraft in 1917, it could've worked as one hell of a sci-fi/horror flick.
That is, until the bad acting, the bad dialogue and the horrible visual effects got in the way.
The cheap trick of using the unknown, unseen evil is taken to a whole new level in Dagon...three frames in the end is really all we get to see of the monster, which looks to be some sort of octopus-type of a thing...hard to tell. The legend of the monster is explained to the main character, Paul (Ezra Godden) by the only human who seems to have escaped the fish-people's grasp: some drunken homeless guy who speaks broken English...therefore it's almost impossible to understand what the hell he's talking about. It's a sketchy tale; something about the village relying on God to bring them more fish, when a mysterious stranger comes to town & gets them to worship Dagon, and prosperity ensues. The catch: regular human sacrifice.
There are tons of low points to this film. The reason for the village being so secluded is never explained (it's not on an island, so...how come nobody knows about this place?); the acting is bad enough to make you punch your cat in the mouth; the visual effects are sloppy; the church has the words "Esoterica Orde de Dagon" over the door...which has NO literal translation, in fact, the word "orde" doesn't even exist, according to online Spanish dictionaries; and Paul has a moment in the local hotel that makes us all understand why Europeans hate Americans so much: he says things like "roomo, pleaso" and "muchas dias". Thank you, Dennis Paoli, for reinforcing the stereotype. We also see the two female characters, Barbara & Vicki, apparently die horrible deaths; Vicki should have died in the opening scene boat wreck (she was trapped between the boat itself and a rock), and Barbara was attacked by the fish-priest & the fish-hotel concierge. Evidently, they are kept for mating reasons...but it's never really explained. Oh, yeah...and there are a few cheap boo moments...and we all know how much I love those.
The villagers look more like zombies than killer fish-creatures, in that they're kinda slow. But just like in zombie movies, somehow the humans just can't seem to outrun them at all. Paul is typical of how foreigners see Americans: cocky yet clumsy; he even looks a bit like Clark Kent...but he never turns into Superman.
Paul also keeps dreaming about this mermaid type girl, who turns out to be real, and real gross...and she has been invading his dreams to bring him to her, so they can be together. The twist on that one is that they're brother and sister (Paul was born in Spain, and could never figure out why his mother wouldn't let him learn Spanish).
The end is pretty gory. Everybody's gathered around this pit where Dagon apparently dwells. The fish people are about to sacrifice Barbara; mermaid girl confesses her relation to Paul and her desire for them to be together (ick); and Paul sets himself on fire after Dagon takes Barbara into the deep.
Like I said, this could have been a really good film, and in reality, it was entertaining to watch. But if the budget had been a little bigger, or the actors picked a little more carefully, it would've been stellar. Once again a great concept is ruined by bad acting and screen writing.
Oh well...happy watching!
Watch the trailer: Dagon
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