Dagon (2001)

Dagon is a direct-to-DVD gem from director and H.P. Lovecraft specialist Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, From Beyond) that adapts not so much the story from which the film gets its name, but The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Like with Die, Monster, Die!, the story is moved from its original New England location - this time to the fictional fishing village of Imboca, Spain. (Unlike yesterday's movie, the relocation of the setting probably had more to do with the Spanish cast, crew, shooting locations, and financial backing than simply aesthetic reasons. Certainly understandable for a lower budget movie like Dagon.)

Four Americans are shipwrecked on the sharp rocks just off the coast of Spain. When Paul and Barbara go ashore for help, they find the village of Imboca, which is populated with the hideously deformed worshippers of the sea deity Dagon. They are chased through the village by the inhuman Imbocans, culminating in a terrible ritual in the catacombs below the blasphemous church of the Esoteric Order of Dagon. There, Paul is to be made the bridegroom of Dagon's high priestess, and Barbara is to be made Dagon's unwilling lover.

As with most Lovecraft adaptations, there are major differences between the movie and the story. But unlike so many movies, in the hands of a director who gets it Dagon exhibits just the right spirit of bleak terror and existential dread. The acting from the cast of Spanish unknowns (save for the late Paco Rabal, whose name I know but I'm not sure why) is better than you might expect. The physical creature effects and special effects makeup are really fantastic. Particularly excellent is the portrayal of "that Innsmouth look" (or Imboca look, in the case of the movie) that the townsfolk tend to have - pale, clammy looking skin, hollow eyes, subtle (and not-so-subtle) gill slits, and even tentacles. The only missteps, effects wise, are a couple of instances of less-than-stellar CGI tentacles that are shown very briefly. But for the most part, this sort of thing is done practically, like back in the good old days, and it serves the movie well.

The only thing that's missing from this movie is the presence of Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton, who both appear in Stuart Gordon's other Lovecraft movies. Otherwise, it has all the creepiness, nihilism, and gore it needs to put it on the short list of good HPL adaptations. If you're a fan of Lovecraft's work, or good monster-y horror in general, don't overlook Dagon.