Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Ezra Godden | ... | Paul Marsh | |
Francisco Rabal | ... | Ezequiel | |
Raquel Meroño | ... | Bárbara | |
Macarena Gómez | ... | Uxía Cambarro | |
Brendan Price | ... | Howard | |
Birgit Bofarull | ... | Vicki | |
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Uxía Blanco | ... | Madre Ezequiel |
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Ferran Lahoz | ... | Sacerdote |
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Joan Minguell | ... | Xavier Cambarro |
Alfredo Villa | ... | Capitán Orfeo Cambarro | |
José Lifante | ... | Recepcionista Hotel | |
Javier Sandoval | ... | Padre Ezequiel | |
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Victor Barreira | ... | Ezequiel Joven |
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Fernando Gil | ... | Sacerdote Católico |
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Jorge Luis Pérez | ... | Chico |
Based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, the undisputed master of the macabre, Dagon tells the story of Paul Marsh, a young man who discovers that the truth will not set him free instead it condemns him to a waking nightmare of unrelenting horror. A boating accident off the coast of Spain sends Paul and his girlfriend Barbara to the decrepit fishing village of Imboca looking for help. As night falls, people start to disappear and things not quite human start to appear. Paul finds himself pursued by the entire town. Running for his life, he uncovers Imboca's dark secret: that they pray to Dagon, a monstrous god of the sea. And Dagon's unholy offspring are freakish half-human creatures on the loose in Imboca... Written by Friday Jones <friday@fridayjones.com>
I'm not a huge Lovecraft fan. Don't get me wrong, the man was a master - but that's the problem I have with him. He simply wrote too well. His mutant fish fixation has always upset my equilibrium, and his tentacled Monster Gods still give me nightmares. Maybe, as a Pisces, I was subconsciously insulted, I don't know...but I've never sought out either his written works or the films based upon them. So, it was with little enthusiasm that I watched "Dagon" one cold, rainy morning. I wasn't sorry.
This film could probably be easily lost in the deluge of direct-to-video slashers with unimaginative plots and stale gore effects, which is a shame because it is neither stale nor a slasher. Based on a short story (which runs no more than five or six pages, if memory serves me correctly) "Dagon" is a cold, slithery, unnerving tale set in one of those isolated seaside towns that Lovecraft loved so much to write about. A boat accident sends a young couple ashore seeking help for their stranded friends. There have been warnings already, in the shapes of underwater nightmares suffered by the young man; a huge, submerged stone disk, a mermaid with a vampire's mouth, etc. The town's listless inhabitants soon reveal themselves to the terrified young couple - white, slimy gills and fish black eyes make their appearance, and by the time they do, it is too late.
There's a beautiful syren with mesmerizing eyes and an unfortunate case of tentacles, a bloody sacrifice above a stone pit, a sick face-ripping scene, a self-immolation and a twist ending. "Dagon" is hardly a throwaway slasher flick - its a dark, nasty, twisted fairy tale with neither a happy nor an unhappy ending. People with fish phobias probably would do well to steer clear, but this is a very well done little film that deserves better attention.