In this film, based on the short story by the undisputed master of the macabre, H. P. Lovecraft. A boating accident off the coast of Spain sends Paul and his girlfriend to the dilapidated fishing village of Imboca looking for help. As night falls people start to disappear and things not quite human start appearing. Paul finds himself pursued by the entire town and discovers Imboca's dark secret whilst running for his life... the freakish half-human creatures that populate the town. They pray to Dagon, a monstrous God of the sea. All outsiders are sacrificed, the men are skinned alive and the women offered as unwilling brides to bear Dagon's unholy children.
It had been years since I'd last seen Stuart Gordon's Dagon, at least 15 years or so. I was 12 and the film freaked me out then and it sill kinda freaks me out to this day. Let me elaborate, the setting of the film is very dark, foreboding, and realistic, that alone was enough to give 12 year old me a couple of restless nights. Mix that with those damned mutant fish-humans that sacrifice unlucky visitors to their tentacle beast god...now that is pure nightmare fuel. Maybe it's because I'm a Pisces, who knows?
When I got news that the film was making the jump to Blu-ray via Umbrella Entertainment, I knew that I had to check it out and see if it had stood the test of time. I'm happy to say that, for the most part, it did. From a visual and atmospheric standpoint, this release is top-notch! Presented in 16:9 aspect ratio, the picture is crisp and clear with no issues that I noticed, if you can look past the few instances of shoddy 2001 CGI that stick out like a sore thumb. On the audio side, the English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is magnificent and really helps add to the rainy and bleak setting of the film. The mutant-fish sounds are also more prominent than ever before!
In terms of bonus features, I found the release rather lacking. There were no "new" features added, we just get some archival making-of videos and interviews. Don't get me wrong, these are a fun watch, I just wish there was newer material made for this Blu-ray. The first printings of this release feature a slipcover with gorgeous new cover art by Simon Sherry that completely destroys the old DVD cover art.
All in all, I'm pleased with this release and still think that Dagon is a thoroughly enjoyable film. Umbrella did a great job with this Blu-ray release and it's worth purchasing, especially if you're upgrading from the DVD release!
EXTRA FEATURES
Making-of featurette
Interviews:
- Macarena Gomez
- Stuart Gordon
- Raquel Meroño
- Ezra Godden
Interviews from the set:
- Stuart Gordon
- Julkio Fernández
- Raquel Meroño
- Ezra Godden
- Francisco "Paco"Rabal
Trailer
Teaser
TV spots