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Dagon (DVD)

Johnny Butane's picture
Reviewed by Johnny Butane


Starring Ezra ("Band of Brothers" TV show) Godden, Francisco (Nightmare City) Rabal, Raquel (Airbag) Merono, Marcarena Gomez

Directed by Stuart Gordon

This movie is amazing.

From the way Gordon incorporates so much of Lovecraft's actual scenes from "Shadow Over Innsmouth" (the movie is actually a mix of that story and "Dagon"), to the character arch our hero, Paul Marsh (Godden) takes throughout, it's one of the movies I could watch over and over again. Hell, I've already seen it four times!

Dagon doesn't let go of you from about 10 minutes in, it just throws you into the life of Paul Marsh having a very, very bad day when the boat he's on gets stuck on a rock off the coast of a small town named Imboca (translated from Spanish it means "In mouth"). He's rained on, chased, shot at, rained on some more, made to jump from three story windows, rained on some more, threatened with knives...and manages to live through the whole thing. Sort of.

You just have to see it. If you were at all worried if Gordon still had what it took to make Lovecraft come alive again, put your fears to rest. This movie will kick everyone's ass.

Lions Gate did a great job making it look as pristine as possible, and the underwater scenes look like they cost a helluva lot more than they actually did.

As far as the sound quality goes, you cannot go wrong with the 5.1, baby. Especially in some of the quieter scenes when the lurching fish-men are surrounding Paul, just creepy as hell. Make sure it's LOUD.

Not much in the way of extras here, but I have a feeling we'll see more someday. You've got two excellent commentary tracks, one with Stuart Gordon and writer Dennis Paoli (same writer that worked on Re-Animator and From Beyond), and the other with Gordon and star Ezra Godden. If you can, try and watch it with both of the, it really gives two completely different perspectives on the making of Dagon. Production art, storyboards, and the trailer round it out.

This is one of those movies that I think will be so popular with fans, in about five years or so we'll see a great special edition of it with a lot more stuff. Here's hoping!

3 ½ out of 5

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