Dagon by Stuart Gordon is an odd one. It’s based on the HP Lovecraft short story A Shadow over Innsmouth (which is a personal obsession of mine) and despite all the floors of the film it probably is the most authentic adaptation of Lovecraft on film.
Of course Lovecraft has inspired other film writers and directors like John Carpenter (In The Mouth of Madness is pure Lovecraft). Even the daft but enjoyable Midnight Meat Train has a big slab of Lovecraft in it.
So, I don’t particularly rate Dagon, despite generally liking director Stuart Gordon, however, I keep watching Dagon over and over again. Maybe this says more about my desire to see Lovecraft on screen than any merits the film itself has.
The film was shot for a very low budget in Spain, and some of the Spanish dialogue is difficult to discern. It is a big cult film, and it does polarise viewers. So some people think this is one of the worst films ever made, some, like me watch it time and time again.
I’ll leave it up to you to decide, but be warned, this film can come back and haunt you…
The crappy misleading trailer is below…
So, 56 films to go…
Matthew Cooper has written for Emmerdale, Eastenders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs. He was winner of the first ever Lloyds Bank Channel Four Film Challenge and the Oscar Moore Screenplay Prize. His first short film starred a then unknown Ewan McGregor and was picked up by Channel Four when Matthew was 19 years old. He’s been a script writer for hire and filmmaker for hire for over 20 years.