[wp-review id=”92112″]
When Paul is vacationing with his girlfriend Barbara and their friends Vicki and Howard off of the coast of Spain, the group is caught off guard by a huge storm. In the chaotic weather that hits the boat, Vicki is terribly injured and they need help. Paul and Barbara go to shore to get some assistance and when they hit the shore, there is something not right about this village.
DAGON is directed by Stuart Gordon and he has done a lot of horror in his career. With this, there are a lot of creepy practical effects but the CGI is not the best. First, the people in the village have this half-human, half-sea monster look and it goes to show that if you can do a real effect that looks good, do it. Subpar CGI can take the viewer out of the movie so keep that in mind.
Cast
Ezra Godden – Paul Marsh
Francisco Rabal – Ezequiel
Raquel Meroño – Barbara
Macarena Gómez – Uxía Cambarro
Brendan Price – Howard
Birgit Bofarull – Vicki
Uxía Blanco – Ezequiel’s mother
Ferran Lahoz – Priest
Joan Minguell – Xavier Cambarro
Alfredo Villa – Captain Orpheus Cambarro/Captain Obed March
VIDEO QUALITY:
The video is a 1080p AVC presentation that has some glaring issues. The video from the Vestron collection has always had a look that looks like a slightly better version of a TV broadcast. On this release, the video looks like it has been processed with EE and it limits the sharpness of the images. Everything looks like there is no real defining edge and very soft. Kind of like a long dream sequence. For being a very dark movie, there are some points where the coloring is bold like the bright orange shirt Paul is wearing or the neon rain jacket that Barbara wears. The blacks are very dark in most of the movie but there are some spots where the picture loses the contrasting.
AUDIO QUALITY:
The audio is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that has a decent mix. The rain and other weather creates plenty of sound from the surround channels. The same goes for the effects when the “villagers” are moving around in the larger groups. The voices and dialogue from the front and center channels are clear and easy to understand.
SUPPLEMENTS & PACKAGING
-Audio Commentary: with Director Stuart Gordon and Screenwriter Dennis Paoli.
-Audio Commentary: with Director Stuart Gordon and Star Ezra Godden.
-Gods & Monsters: This is an interview with director Stuart Gordon. The interviewer is filmmaker Mick Garris.
-Shadows Over Imboca: Producer Brian Yuzna gives an interview.
-Fish Stories: This is an interview with S.T. Joshi, author of I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H.P. Lovecraft.
-Vintage EPK Featurette
-Archival Interviews
-Conceptual Art Gallery
-Storyboard Gallery
-Still Gallery
-Theatrical Trailer
Disc Details
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD-50)
Running Time
98 mins
Edition Ratings
Rated R
Region Coding
Region A
Video Resolution
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audio Mixes
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles
English SDH
Spanish
THE BOTTOM LINE:
DAGON is a pretty good horror movie. Like I mentioned, the practical effects have fun horror written all over them but the CGI isn’t that impressive. The Blu-ray itself doesn’t have the best transfer and possibly one of the lowest scoring video presentations from the Vestron line, however, the audio mix is nice. The extras and the amount of them are great. The nice horror feel and the extras overshadow the quality of the video transfer so make sure to check this one out.
