Dagon (2001)

NIGHT 12

 

     "Fuck Dagon!"

 

Dagon (2001) is a Spanish, Lovecraftian, survival horror film directed by Stuart Gordon and based on the novella The Shadow over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft. This is the final (as in most recent) film directed by Stuart Gordon that's based on a Lovecraft story following Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1996) and Castle Freak (1995). This film was apparently originally supposed to be his follow up to Re-Animator but he couldn't get the financing to make it until 15 years later!

Paul and his girlfriend Barbara are recent millionaires on vacation, boating somewhere off the coast of Spain. Things suddenly get bad very quickly for them though, when they hear chanting from a nearby medieval village and a huge storm quickly rolls in on top of them slamming their boat on some nearby rocks. Stranded, they go to the locals for help, but something's really not right about these people...

Unlike most contemporary horror films, Dagon (2001) is really good at showing just enough gore and monsters and leaving the rest to your imagination. Note this is in "The Good" section rather than "The Magnificent" section because it show just slightly too much sometimes (more on this in the next section...) This is also very restrained for Stuart Gordon who made the previous films I mentioned that are very much the "show everything for shock value" type.

I found I liked the simplicity of this film, it's literally just a survival horror for most of the film. Which is pretty refreshing in this day and age, but for the length of the film I could have used a bit more content.

Unfortunately one of the worst things about this movie is the cinematography. It's passable but there was quite a few times where I found myself confused about what was happening because the shot was just in too close. For example early on Paul & Barbara are trying to get to shore in a raft while a storm is coming. The raft gets a hole and they realize they're stuck between their origin and destination, the only problem? They have to tell us this. You know what would have been nice? A nice long shot to show us how far away they are from the shore!

This movie could have used a little more padding when it came to characters. We really don't know anything about our protagonist Paul, except that he's suddenly become very rich. I suppose this is to make him more of an everyman so that we can attach our own experience to his but... he's a rich nerd. Right off the bat that narrows down your relate-able audience quite a bit. Luckily this didn't ruin the film for me, but honestly who were the other two characters on the boat with them anyways? Their parents? I still have no idea! This is just another simple mistake that could have been fixed pretty easily early on in the film. Also since this was originally intended to follow Re-Animator it was written with Jeffery Combs and Barbara Crampton in mind for the leads, but by the time he got the money to make it the actors were too old for the parts, so it's possible that those actors could have brought more to the parts but who knows.

I liked the comedy in this film, but there's almost too little to justify it. I feel like they couldn't decide whether to make it a straight horror or comedy so instead there's just a couple really funny jokes here and there. You have to commit dammit!

The computer graphics in this film are god-awful. We're talking Sci-Fi channel original movie bad. Granted these are the still the somewhat early years of CG and the budget for the film isn't super high and it is used sparingly even, but I would have just done without. It more than anything else, dates the film really badly.

Also I really didn't like the ending. (SPOILERS obviously to follow...) I understand this is truthful to the original story but the reveal at the end of his familiar ties to this village is just way too late and convenient to be convincing. And we've been following this guy for an hour and a half and for him to just give up and give in at the last minute leaves a really bad taste in your mouth. You could have given him more in the story early on to tell that he has the possibility to go down that path (AND HIM HAVING A DREAM AT THE BEGINNING ISN'T ENOUGH.)

The thing Dagon does really well is create a very simple survival horror. The protagonist is very simply a normal guy and at no point during the movie does he do anything that you or I couldn't do. There's something really refreshing about this and it really adds to the actual horror of the movie. The film has a really good pace and things progressively get weirder for our protagonist at a good speed. When things get weird, he get's weirded out. When he thinks all is lost he starts doing bolder and more extreme things. This just works really well in the movies favor making the movie a very enjoyable ride the whole way through.

Also worth mentioning this was the final film of Francisco Rabal, who I didn't know at all but apparently he's one of the biggest Spanish actors who ever lived and you can really tell from his performance in this film. He really plays a great role as the drunk Ezequiel who ends up being a very unexpected ally for Paul. What a great way to go out, such a magnificent performance here.

Dagon (2001) isn't a great film, but it is a very good horror film, and definitely worth checking out if you have any passing interest in the weird and supernatural.

3.5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!





We're slowly winding down on our string of Lovecraft films on the 31 Days of Macabre Movies, tomorrow we continue with the all-new silent film The Call of Cthulhu (2005).

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Castle Freak (1995)

NIGHT 11

 

     "Rebecca is right, there is someone else in the castle!"

Castle Freak (1995) is a direct-to-video horror film very loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft's short story The Outsider. This is the third film by Stuart Gordon that is based on a Lovecraft story after Re-Animator (1985) and From Beyond (1986) and like those films, this film also stars Jeffery Combs and Barbara Crampton.

Castle Freak is about an American man who recently inherited a castle in Italy. Seeing this as a chance to repair his fractured family he moves them into the castle, but what they don't know is that someone or something is still living there...

If there is one thing going through these Lovecraft films has enlightened me of, is that I'm a huge fan of Stuart Gordon's direction. This may not be the best example of it, but this is proof that a good director can do miracles on a tiny budget. There is moments where the scene is basically "run after the actress down the hallway with the camera" but there's also much of this film with scenes where the mood is absolutely perfect. Unlike Re-Animator, this film has almost no humor to it, and for this story I think it really fits and also shows the range and versatility of Gordon's skill. There's a really nice crescendo to this film that really sets it apart from others like it.

As always, I'm a big fan of Jeffery Combs and here we see him in yet another completely opposite role of what he's played before for Gordon. Barbara Crampton wasn't bad either (there's parts to her character I really enjoyed) but it's safe to say we've seen the extent of her ability in these last couple films. Although I must admit that one of the things that made me want to see this film was that it had both her and Jeffery Combs in it again, so I can't be too negative. Surprisingly the supporting cast in this film is really decent too! Luca Zingaretti makes a very convincing and interesting local police officer, and the monster Giorgio played by Jonathan Fuller is very believable.

A lot of people would write this film off because of its "slasher" film elements, but I'd actually disagree. This film has everything a slasher film usually lacks: a nice build up, a great story behind it and a good resolution.

The exception to the good acting mentioned above is the daughter Rebecca played by Jessica Dollarhide. This isn't that uncommon with a low budget film and/or a young actor but having her opposite Jeffery Combs doesn't help at all. Unfortunately it looks like this was poor Jessica Dollarhide's last film and I don't think she was so terrible that she should have quit acting, she was just young!

Didn't care for the last ending fight with the monster. Putting it on the roof in the rain seemed like it was just trying to make it epic, when in actuality I found myself thinking how silly it was. And tying into that, I didn't love the ending either. It fits the characters but it just seems unnecessary and again attempting to be overly "epic."

So what makes this film so much better than all the others like it? A really tight story that has almost no added "fat" to cut. There's a very terrifying premise that is enhanced by the spooky mood of the first half, and the story also builds and crescendos very nicely (again much like Re-Animator) on multiple levels including madness of our protagonist, horror, gore and excitement level.

Castle Freak (1995) is actually a really good direct to video horror film, it shows how a director with real talent can share a compelling story and make a good film even on an extremely low budget. I highly recommend this widely unseen gem.

3.5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!




Tomorrow we finish Stuart Gordon's Lovecraft film streak as we move on to our 5th decade of Lovecraft films with Dagon (2001) only on the 31 Nights of Macabre Movies.

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From Beyond (1986)

NIGHT 9

     "It... ate... him!"

From Beyond (1986) is a science-fiction, horror film based on H.P. Lovecraft's short story of the same name. This is Stuart Gordon's follow up to Re-Animator (1985), this film also stars Jeffery Combs and Barbara Crampton as Gordon wanted to do something similar to Roger Corman's Poe cycle with a series of films based on one author's work with a re-occurring cast.

From Beyond is about a couple of scientists who build a machine to stimulate the pineal gland in humans in order to interact with and see creatures from another dimension. What could go wrong?

Stuart Gordon is a great director. His direction in Re-Animator wasn't bad at all, but the direction in From Beyond is a lot better (and in only a year too!). Unlike Re-Animator, every camera move in From Beyond has a purpose and it's just a lot tighter camera work all around.

It's great to see Jeffery Combs and Barbara Crampton again, and thankfully they're playing significantly different roles than in the previous film. The addition of horror veteran Ken Foree is an excellent treat also, I just wish they had some better material to work off of!

The dialogue in this film is pretty god-awful. It wasn't much better in Re-Animator but this film doesn't have as much of the comedic element (or at least it's not as purposefully present here) which is what helps with a lot of Re-Animator's shortcomings.

The effects in From Beyond are pretty bad. It's really a hard line to walk because much of the actual horror in this film stems from the physical (and gross) transformations you see right before your eyes. But unfortunately a lot of the practical effects and slimy rubber suits don't look great when you focus the camera on them for too long in a well lit room!

The story in From Beyond isn't inherently bad, in fact the premise is actually very interesting and unique. But to me it's very obvious that this was adapted from a short story because the actual core of the film is really smart and interesting but then the film has long stretches where nothing is happening on an intellectual level and instead we get lots of gory monsters and weird things that don't really make sense at all.

Unlike Re-Animator, the soundtrack of this film is completely fresh and original! Richard Band's soundtrack to this film is really quite great there was a lot of times where I found myself realizing the soundtrack was doing more for me than what was on the screen!

From Beyond (1986) is definitely the ugly, less-loved sibling of Re-Animator (1985) but you can learn a lot about what works in a horror film and what doesn't by watching them back to back!

2.5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!




The H.P. Lovecraft films continue tomorrow on The 31 Nights of Macabre Movies as we finally get into the 90s' with John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness (1994).

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Re-Animator (1985)

NIGHT 8

     "Don't expect it to tango... it has a broken back."

 

Re-Animator (1985) (also known as H.P. Lovecraft's Re-Animator) is a cult-classic horror film directed by Stuart Gordon and based on H.P. Lovecraft's novel, Herbert West-Reanimator.

The story follows Dan Cain a bright, young third-year medical student at Miskatonic Medical School in Arkham, Massachusets who rents out a room to the strange, new transfer student, Herbert West. What he doesn't know is Herbert is about to create the greatest medical discovery of all time.

The direction in this film is really solid. This is Stuart Gordon's first big film and it's actually quite impressive. There's moments I thought could have been better if the director was more experienced (like the chasing the re-animated cat scene), but over all the film is quite good in that respect. His real ability shows in his skill at blending simple camera tricks, animatronics, acting, makeup and props to make for some very convincing reanimated corpses.

Yes this film is very gory, but in my mind it actually is just kind of a realistic amount of blood for the most part and it builds and has a nice progression as the film goes on and the events get more insane. This is actually gore done right as far as I'm concerned.

The theme of this film is mercilessly ripped off of Bernard Herman's intro theme to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). This is beyond tribute and in my mind huge copyright infringement and just plain not cool. So the movie loses points for that.

The only parts of the story I don't think work as well as the rest are that of the evil professor. I'm not sure if it's his acting or how forced it is in the story. I think this is a very important part of the story and it just ends up forced or over the top every time he's on screen.

Some of the effects and makeup don't hold up (not that they were that great in the mid eighties either, I'm sure), but it actually adds a lot to the camp and cult-classic nature of the film so I'm not sure I'd dock it as much as I would other films for this. And theirs parts where the acting and direction actually make the makeup and effects work effectively so that kind of cancels out a lot of this.

You should see Re-Animator just for the acting alone if nothing else. None of these guys were big named actors at the time and they're in a cheesy, extra gory, re-animation horror movie and they take the work very seriously. Bravo for that.

I love how the story is really simple, interesting and silly... it combines all three of those things in a really great way. I love the way it bookends almost unexpectedly, and I really like how it's essentially a tale about an unexpected friendship and how these two guys end up having to work together to defeat their greedy professor.

Re-Animator (1985) is a horror classic, and it's very clear why. Great story, convincing performances and a very fun premise all add up to a very enjoyable film.

4.5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!




There's even more H.P. Lovecraft films tomorrow on The 31 Nights of Macabre Movies as we continue with Stuart Gordon's follow up film to this one From Beyond (1986).

And be sure to check out J.W. Ocker's very interesting post from last week about what happened when he made his wife watch this film. It's a great read, and I think his wife is very correct on her opinions and observations of the film, over on his blog OTIS.

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