Bullet Points: Dagon (2001)
You may be asking yourself “what the hell is a Dagon?” Well, I had the same question going through my mind as I slowed my scroll on the FREE streaming service Tubi and rested upon the poster for 2001’s Dagon. Barring the reading of any review sites, the only real way for me to find out about Dagon was to immerse myself into the gullet of this mysterious monster.
Synopsis: A boating accident runs a young man and woman ashore in a decrepit Spanish fishing town which they discover is in the grips of an ancient sea god and its monstrous half human offspring.
- Nightmare scenario: Paul (Ezra Godden) and his beautiful and exotic girlfriend Barbara (Raquel Merono) are joining in a sailboat with their friends Howard and Vicki. Paul has been waking up from nightmares of this area…which makes the decision to visit that much dumber. Also in his nightmare, is the face of a woman he has never seen before. Lo and behold, their boat gets thrown onto some rocks during a massive storm and Paul and Barbara make it to the ominous looking seaside village of Imboca.
- The townsfolk: You can immediately tell this is a weird place. They hear some strange chanting going on from town before the storm hits and then confirm their suspicions that the place is weird when they meet the inhabitants. The people are all in some form of mutation that we later find out is slowly changing them in order to live in the sea. Gills, webbed hands, and a serious limp are a majority of what we see from people of Imboca.
- On the run: It doesn’t take long for Paul to learn that the intentions of the Imbocans aren’t good. He is running away for most of the film. He eventually meets an old man named Ezekial, who has lived there his entire life and somehow not been transformed, who fills him in on a butt-load of pertinent information. Paul is forced to do battle with a few of the mutated townsfolk which gives us a chance to see the various ways in which they’ve changed. Paul isn’t a badass, by any stretch of the imagination, so he clumsily fights his way around the town until he’s captured for the umpteenth time.
- Don’t skin me bro: If you do get captured by the people of Imboca, be prepared to have your face sliced off. Very uncool. Paul sees his new buddy Ezekial get his skin torn off and nearly has it done to himself before he’s rescued by the girl from his dreams. She isn’t all that he expected her to be, though. You know, since she has wild-looking tentacles where her legs should be. Either way, Paul has his face saved by his nightmare gal before taking off once again to rescue the lovely Barbara.
- Still running: I hope that Paul had his Apple Watch on to track his steps cause this dude spends most of the film running around. An early fall in the film causes him to have a limp, as well, so he begins to run like the very creatures who are chasing him.
- Revenge of the nerd: Paul finally finds Barbara as she’s being dropped into a giant water tunnel like a human teabag. For what purpose, you may ask? To get banged by Dagon, of course! A bunch of the mutants surrounding the hole get lit on fire by Paul as he attempts to rescue his darling Barbara. It’s all for not, I’m sorry to say, as she gets ripped down into the water after being covered in Dagon’s black seed. Gross! Then we get the biggest swerve of all….
- Say it ain’t so: If you’re still reading then you’re already filled to the brim with spoilers so why not go for one more? We find out from his lady nightmare that Paul is, in fact, also a child of Dagon. His mother fled from this small village many years ago while pregnant with Paul. He did mention his mother was from Spain and never returned by now we know why. So Paul attempts to light himself on fire but his pushed into the water below by his sister/nightmare girl/new lover. He immediately starts breathing with his gills…wait, where did those come from? And then he with his charred body and his new love swim down into a cavern with Dagon’s symbol on it. What a way to end your movie…
The Verdict: I didn’t have much of an idea of what to expect with Dagon. Literally….no idea. I saw it mentioned in a tweet from Bloody Disgusting’s John Squires and thought, “what more do I need to go off of?” Dagon is one of those H.P. Lovecraft stories that was adapted to the screen in a way that is both extremely odd and mysteriously open-ended. The characters aren’t terribly interesting but I just watched Underwater the other day and got super interested in learning what the hell these Cthulhu people are always going on about. Dagon follows Paul probably too closely since he isn’t the most interesting character I’ve ever seen. What is best about the film is the idea of a small village in the middle of nowhere that is so crazy and has remained isolated for so long. It isn’t for everyone but if you’re into creature effects, Lovecraftian things, and the occasional skinning, then you may feel at home with Dagon.
