DAGON
PLOT-A couple become shipwrecked on an island where the townspeople are really weird.
VIOLENCE-A decent amount of gore. A guy gets skinned alive, several stabbings occur, and someone's arms are ripped off by a big monster.
SEX/NUDITY-Not really any sex to speak of, but the two main female leads both get topless and/or completely naked at some point in the film.
WHY I WATCHED IT-This movie was directed by Stuart Gordon, the man responsible for one of the greatest horror films of all time: RE-ANIMATOR. If you've never seen it, I have no idea why you're reading this right now. Go watch that motherfucker. Anyway, the box for DAGON has a quote from FANGORIA magazine editor Anthony Timpone claming that this is Gordon's best movie since RE-ANIMATOR. I don't agree with that at all. FROM BEYOND, PIT AND THE PENDULUM, and CASTLE FREAK are all way better than DAGON is. Sure, DAGON has a neat story and good acting. It is a well-made movie and it's always cool to see someone in a Miskatonic t-shirt. I'm a fan of Stuart Gordon and that's why I wanted to see this. Plus, anything rated R for violence, gore, sex, and nudity is definitely worth a look. Always.
WHY I DIDN'T LIKE IT-I was into the plot and characters up until a certain point. That point was when I watched the main character get chased by the zombie-like townsfolk for the umpteenth time. Seriously, most of the movie is just this dude running away from people. I actually fast-forwarded through 30+ minutes of chase sequences. The setup and ending are both very cool, but the stuff in between isn't too exciting (save for the man who gets skinned alive...that's pretty gut wrenching to watch). Again, this doesn't come close to being Stuart Gordon't best since RE-ANIMATOR.
SAVING GRACE-The main character was a pretty funny guy. He even LOOKED like Jeffrey Combs did in RE-ANIMATOR. That was neato. I liked the guy enough to keep rooting for him the whole time.
NOTES-This movie was released by Lion's Gate, but is part of the Fantastic Factory venture that producer Brain Yuzna has been part of over the last few years. His co-backers are several entities in Spain, and I think all their movies are shot there. At the beginning of DAGON, you'll see about 20 different company logos that seem to go on forever. The excellent movie FAUST was made by Yuzna and Fantastic Factory, and they keep saying that BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR will eventually get made.
(July 2002)