|
Directed by: Stuart Gordon Starring: Ezra Godden, Francisco Rabal, Raquel Morono Thought I'd post a review of this film as so many goons are into HPL. Stuart Gordon previously made the Reanimator films, the first of which was very, very loosely based on the mini-novel by Lovecraft and which are generally viewed as pinnacles of innovative, schlocky, blackly comic horror. Dagon is a different kettle of ... fish. Despite the title it is not based on the short story `Dagon' but on `The Shadow Over Innsmouth', one of HPL's most famous tales. All it really takes from that story is the setting, but it moves it from Innsmouth, New England to Imboca, Chile. Despite this it doesn't actually take any terrible liberties with the original material (in my opinion). If you've ever read and enjoyed any of the zillions of Lovecraft pastiches and tribute stories set in Innsmouth, you'll probably enjoy this. It starts with a bunch of yuppies out for a sail on a yacht. As the sail past Imboca a huge storm brews up over the town and heads out to sea and sinks them. (The sequence with the storm appearing is really quite eerie and menacing.) Two head for shore to get help because one is trapped in the sinking boat. Upon arriving at the pier they split up and go looking for telephones and coastguards and things. The town is a fantastic stand-in for Innsmouth (non-existent as that place is) and looks just as you imagined it ought to. To cut a long story short, the girl yuppie gets abducted and the boy yuppie stumbles across the `orrible secret of Imboca and gradually discovers his pivotal role in the goings on there. Several scenes are taken more or less directly from the original text (under siege in the hotel, encounter with ancient drunk - played by Francisco Rabal who was apparently a well regarded actor, here turning in his final performance, and the history of the town). I didn't have particularly high hopes for this film, but this is about as good as a film adaptation of `The Shadow Over Innsmouth' could get imo. It's nice to see a film that sticks as close as it reasonably can to an original HPL tale, rather than just throwing in a reference to `the Necronomicon' or `Cthulhu' and plastering `H.P. Lovecraft's Beach Dracula Sex Zombies' on the cover. If you're an HPL puppy then you should check it out. RATING: 4 PROS: More Lovecraftian hi-jinks from the director of Reanimator! Yippee! CONS: The acting is only average. Rabal's English can be tough to follow. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264508/#comment
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2004 06:48
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 13:15 |
|
|
I agree that this is about as close to "Shadow Over Innsmouth" as you're going to get, but I still wanted more. I had really low expectations at first, but was surprised to find it was decent, which was probably why I wanted more. Also, this movie has boobs and tentacles, lol. I still wouldn't go around telling all my friends about this movie unless they like HPL. 3/5
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2004 09:23
|
|
|
This was pretty neat, but really drat campy. I just smacked of the new low-budget, straight-to-video horror films. It definitely had a few great moments, like where they peel someone's face off. Still, I believe I forgave just about everything once I saw the ending. The ending just fit the tone of the whole Lovecraft mythos so well that I couldn't dislike it. Recommends for anyone looking for more (good) Lovecraftian cinema, try John Carpenter's In The Mouth of Madness. It has nothing to do with the elder gods from Lovecraft but if you watch it, I do believe you'll see some similiar themes among them. 3.5/5
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2004 17:39
|
|
|
Probably the closest a movie can get to Lovecraft's stories. While it has sort of a campy horror-movie feel and a main character that suspiciously looks like a young Gordon Freeman the acting is actually okay and the CGI is decent. Really fun to watch if you read "The Shadow over Innsmouth" before and don't take the movie too serious. I am not rating it, I am too biased when it comes to Lovecraft. (PS: Imboca is in Spain, not in Chile)
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2004 18:14
|
|
|
quote:Undead_Kitten came out of the closet to say: I was about to say that. The old drunk guy singing in Gallician confirms that.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2004 22:39
|
|
