Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Dagon (2001) Directed by Stuart Gordon Based upon the Short Stories Dagon and The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft

"We shall dive down through black abysses...and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever."  H. P. Lovecraft

Paul Marsh (Ezra Godden) is a very successful internet start up CEO, vacationing with his girl friend Barbara (Raquel Meroño) and another couple, Howard (Brenden Price) and Vicki (Birgit Bofarull), off the coast of Spain.   His only problems are nightmares, nightmares of the ocean, and a beautiful woman...and his girlfriend's insistence there will be no work on vacation.  But when a sudden squall throws them onto the rocks, Vicki's leg is trapped, and Paul and Barbara take the zodiac to shore to seek help from the village, Inbocca.

While Barbara goes to get the police, Paul rides back out with the local fishermen to offer what help they can.

But when they get to the boat, Vicki and Howard are missing!  And worse, when he gets back to Inbocca, not only does he have to deal with the language barrier, but Barbara has gone to the next town to fetch the police and an ambulance!

There is little choice about what to do.  Sit and wait.  But if the desk clerk's (José Lifante) vacant goggle-eyed stare wasn't disconcerting enough (not to mention the slits on his neck) the room is...well, imagine the worst hotel room ever, and this one is one step worse.  Well, okay, maybe there weren't any dead hookers under the mattress.  Then again, he didn't look.

But when the population of Inbocca catches sight of him, it seems to drive them to frenzy.  One thing you notice about the crowd; there are a lot of adaptive aids; crutches, canes, etc.

Of course the door is missing part of its lock.  Ever tried to screw like your life depended on it?  But he gets the lock on in time.

Poor Paul's life descends to a nightmarish flight from one disaster to another, respite found and lost, his only real advantage that no one in Inbocca seems to move very well...on land.

But Ezequiel (Francisco Rabal, his final performance) tells Paul the story of Inbocca, how it turned its back on Christianity and embraced the faith of Dagon in exchange for heavy catches and gold from the sea.

And when Paul meets the girl from the sea, all bets are off.

There is a problem with most Lovecraft movies; they are low budget trash.  However, Stuart Gordon has proven once again, he gets HPL and knows how to do it right.  While the story is a strange amalgam of the story Dagon, and The Shadow Over Innsmouth, it really remains true to the spirit of that latter tale.

Lovecraft understood that alienation was not reserved for minor considerations such as race.  His life long obsession with madness showed him that anyone could bear seeds within themselves that would place them outside, alien to all around them.  This movie explores those themes.

Stuart Gordon has a gift for getting the biggest bang for his horror buck.  He is not afraid of gore (heck, he is obsessed with it) but shows a touch more restraint in this movie than in some others.  He has a great understanding of mood, pacing, and peeling back the veils of mystery until the horrid truth is revealed.  He has a nice understated gift for foreshadowing.  He doesn't need to set up the arrow pointing at the clue; you get it, or you don't. 

But mostly he works with two things; actors, and story.  Special effects don't mean a thing without those two things.

Ezra Godden is like a young Jeffery Combs, cute, a bit nerdy, and very emotive.  He makes a great Lovecraft protagonist.  Macarena Gómez is delightful as the mysterious girl of his dreams, Uxía Cambarro.  She has such a delicate look, translucent skin like some lavender bioluminescent jellyfish, eyes like the moon reflected in emerald waters.  She is as mysterious and alluring as the sea.  And Francisco Rabal, as the demented old Ezequiel, a man ruined by a life of terror and booze.  A fitting final farewell to a good old actor.

The last element of course is the story.  Lovecraft was the father of modern horror, and Dennis Paoli has experience adapting his works; with the Re-Animator and From Beyond.  Together, they drew up a workable story that could work in the medium of film.  It retains the central themes of Lovecraft; the bowel-liquefying fear of the unknown, and the alien that lives within us all, yet contains enough action for a good horror movie.  Add just a splash of humor, and Stuart Gordon has done it again.

A Lovecraft story that works; that is a rare thing, and this is one of the best.  Enjoy.

This is part of the Ms. Bunnylicious Wicked Hallows Write Off.

The Master of the Macabre: H. P. Lovecraft

The Whisperer In Darkness
The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft (A Kindle Audible Book)
The Shunned House
The Last Lovecraft: Relic of C'Thulhu
Pickman's Muse
C'thulhu (2000, the bad one.)
Colour from the Dark
Beyond the Wall of Sleep
Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: The Dunwich Horror.
Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: The Shadow Over Innsmouth
Dark Adventure Radio Theatre: At the Mountains of Madness
H.P. Lovecraft Collection III: Out of Mind
H.P. Lovecraft Collection I: Cool Air
Dagon
Die Monster Die!
The Dunwich Horror
From Beyond
C'thulhu
H.P. Lovecraft's Haunt of Horror
The Call of C'Thulhu  (A Masterpiece!)
Dreams in the Witch House

Inspired by the Master's Hand:

The Courtyard by Alan Moore
Hellboy
The Mist
In the Mouth of Madness
Cloverfield

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age