Gordon (2001)

2001 - Dagon - Better than Re-Animator. There. I said it. Dagon is the best horror movie I've seen come out in this entire millennial half-decade. I am utterly mystified as to why I never see anyone singing its praises on horror websites or in horror magazines. Excellent location, excellent cinematography, excellent sound design, with a perfect horror-comedy mix. I love Paul Marsh's everyman geek-hero, armed with cellphone and Swiss Army knife, who struggles to screw a cheap lock on a broken door and doesn't really know how to hotwire a car properly. Ezra Godden is excellent in his role as a Paul and I can't wait to see him in Gordon's Masters of Horror episode. The Dagon-ites were original horror movie monsters; I can't recall any other movie with a cult of fish people. I love their voices, their random mutations, the odd way they stare at humans. Like Lovecraft himself, I hate the slimy things that live underwater, so they work as monsters for me. I love the story of the town: how they threw out one religion for another that actually produced results. I am not ashamed to admit that the tentacle girl is hot just the way she is. The way she says it, eternal life underwater doesn't sound so bad. The flaws are minor: some brief shots that contain weak CGI, and Captain Cambarro's true face is a tad latex-y. The best compliment I can pay Stuart Gordon for this movie: it inspired me to go out and read some Lovecraft stories.

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