After Re-Animator and From Beyond, gore king Stuart Gordon finally returns to the Lovecraft playground with this cinematic adaptation of “Shadow over Innsmouth”.  It took fifteen years for Gordon to get this fishy swimming and although flawed it was still worth the wait.

Since this movie’s storyline is fairly unique, it sucked me in from frame one. Originality always does that to me. I was engrossed in the happenings the whole way through. The film’s gripping visuals also helped keep me into the game. It’s constantly raining, the locations are morbidly gorgeous, the buildings are brilliant in their architecture, the smell of dread is always present and Gordon’s firm eye captures it all with style and class. There’s definitely an old school vibe to this flick and I lapped it up like Chasey Lain earning a paycheck. Pace wise, this baby is on the move 90 percent of the clocking time so I never really got a chance to get bored. It only takes one pee break to give us insight on what’s going on via a flashback but apart from that expositional halt, the flick is basically one long extended chase sequence that’s always on the go. It did feel a tad redundant at times, but the shroud of mystery that clouds the picture kept me hooked on the line. For the bulk of the movie, I never knew what was going to happen next. That’s a position I love to be in (that and 69).

On the downside, I did have a couple of qualms with the script. The dialogue is silly at times but I easily let that go. I also had trouble caring about the characters and their relationships. They just weren’t developed enough for me to really give a damn. But what really grated my noggin were all the dumb ass moves the main character (Paul) would do. Was this guy just asking for it or what? I don’t know about you crazy bastards, but if I see a Hotel clerk sporting fish like physical attributes, I’m out of dodge, like fucking now! Not Paul (Godden), he decides to rent a room. WHAT??? Genius hero never stopped insulting me with his idiotic decisions! Here are a few more examples: he locks himself in his Hotel room (using a tiny ass lock) to keep a massive mob of sea-loons out. You guessed it…that didn’t work out…like duh! Also, after all the crazy shite he’s witnessed, for some reason Paul doesn’t buy Ezequiel’s (Rabal) explanation on why all this fish mutation stuff is going down. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS GUY!

But the whipped cream on the nipple is that our boy keeps building hopping to hide from his slimy pursuers. I mean these fish dudes are so SLOW!!! Paul would’ve had the time to go to the convenient store, buy baby oil, pull a whack to a Hustler magazine and take a nap afterwards before these mooks ever got to him! I kept yelling out loud at the screen: DUDE! THE WHOLE TOWN IS SEA-NUTS! STOP HIDING IN CREATURE FILLED BUILDINGS AND RUN OUT OF THERE! He never listened. The screenwriter could’ve though of less obvious scenarios to keep the lead in the sushi-bipeds infested setting. Here Paul’s sometime trivial actions made him look like a twit and that definitely affected my sympathetic feelings in his regards. 

About the production: The idea of bringing DAGON to the screen began fifteen years ago after the international success of Re-Animator. Looking for another Lovecraft story to follow it, Brian Yuzna commissioned Dennis Paoli (From beyond, Pit And The Pendulum) to write an adaptation of DAGON in 1985, after agreeing with Stuart Gordon that this story would make a unique and terrifying film.

Unfortunately, the studios seemed to be equally terrified of the concept, Gordon and Yuzna were told that if they changed the monsters to vampires or werewolves the project would instantly be green-lit. Believing their tale of bizarre amphibious offspring to be much more original, they held on to their dream of bringing Lovecraft’s unsettling visions to the screen.

I always love to hear stories of genre filmmakers NOT selling out. Congrats in making it happen guys!

Francisco Rabal died shortly after wrapping DAGON. RIP