Just watched Stuart Gordon's DAGON. Having enjoyed Gordon's 80's genre outings Re-animator, Bride and From Beyond I was looking forward to this latest opus.
Now the problems I have with the film aren't insurmountable but they do take away some of the enjoyment. Firstly Ash in evil dead was cool, that's a given but the guy in this (Ezra Godden) is like Ash lite and I never really bonded with him as a character basically coz he didn't have any. It starts with a really nice sequence that bodes well for a H.P Lovecraft adaptation but the middle third soon degenerates into a half assed prolonged chase . Now I was starting fidget just a touch but I thought I've paid for this it's got to get better and you know what? It does. WAhhaaay.
Once the Dagon Mythos is shown as back-story Told by an old fisherman in a ridiculously thick accent the Great Old Ones atmos kicks in.
The last third pulls the film up by it's Lapels from mediocrity to pretty damn good. I'll not spoil it but let's just say there's Boobies, Blood, Monsters, and one of the most painful gory protracted deaths I've seen in a long time.
This was like a welcome throwback to the early 80's when Ironic teenagers hadn't yet nudged and winked the credibility out of the genre.
Now the problems I have with the film aren't insurmountable but they do take away some of the enjoyment. Firstly Ash in evil dead was cool, that's a given but the guy in this (Ezra Godden) is like Ash lite and I never really bonded with him as a character basically coz he didn't have any. It starts with a really nice sequence that bodes well for a H.P Lovecraft adaptation but the middle third soon degenerates into a half assed prolonged chase . Now I was starting fidget just a touch but I thought I've paid for this it's got to get better and you know what? It does. WAhhaaay.
Once the Dagon Mythos is shown as back-story Told by an old fisherman in a ridiculously thick accent the Great Old Ones atmos kicks in.
The last third pulls the film up by it's Lapels from mediocrity to pretty damn good. I'll not spoil it but let's just say there's Boobies, Blood, Monsters, and one of the most painful gory protracted deaths I've seen in a long time.
This was like a welcome throwback to the early 80's when Ironic teenagers hadn't yet nudged and winked the credibility out of the genre.