Brian Yuzna | Monster Zone

Starring Jeffrey Combs, Tony Azito, Juan Fernández, Brian Yuzna, Bruce Payne, Belinda Bauer, David Warner, Bess Meyer, Signy Coleman, Obba Babatundé and Richard Lynch. Written by Brent V. Friedman, Christophe Gans, Kazunori Itô and Brian Yuzna. Directed by Christophe (BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) Gans, Shûsuke (GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE) Kaneko and Brian (SOCIETY) Yuzna.

This Lovecraftian horror anthology movie features three segments (‘The Drowned’, ‘The Cold’ and ‘Whispers’) and a wraparound tale (‘The Library’) that has Jeffrey Combs playing H. P. Lovecraft himself, hunting down the Necronomicon in a library.

Of the stories, ‘The Drowned’ and ‘Whispers’ are the best of the bunch. ‘The Drowned’, for instance, boasts a fair amount of tentacles, including a massive, cyclopean tentacle-critter, which, of course, is something you definitely want to see in a Lovecraft movie!

A huge, one-eyed tentacle-monster rises!

But it’s the 3rd story, ‘Whispers’, that is the standout tale for me. This segment just gradually gets more and more gory, outlandish and batshit crazy as it progresses.

Signy Coleman plays a cop who finds herself in a cavern of horrors

‘Whispers’ features a cavern inhabited by otherworldly winged creatures that need human victims to enable them to reproduce, so be prepared for gonzo prosthetics, body parts, blood and bat-critters that have their mouths in their bellies!

NECRONOMICON: BOOK OF THE DEAD isn’t big budget, the acting is variable, and I think the production would’ve been better if Brian Yuzna had directed all the segments – but the film certainly pulls out all the stops to offer us loads of old-school practical FX, gore, slime & blood, courtesy of a bunch of special makeup and animatronic effects artists that includes the talented likes of John Carl Buechler, Screaming Mad George, Steve Johnson, Todd Masters and Tom Savini.

Finally, let’s take another look at the gill-man critter that features in ‘The Drowned’ story…

She's got tentacles for legs! — She’s got tentacles for legs!

Paul (Ezra Godden) is sailing around the Spanish coast when a storm causes the boat to crash onto offshore rocks. With two of his friends trapped in the boat wreckage, Paul and his girlfriend Barbara (Raquel Meroño) must go to a nearby village to find help.

Calm down - it's just a dream (at first)! — Calm down – it’s just a dream (at first)!

Paul soon realises that the village locals are rather odd and then he starts seeing a mermaid (Macarena Gomez), who had appeared previously in his dreams…

As the story continues, it is revealed that the villagers pray to an unholy sea god and there are shambling, hybrid offspring roaming about the place.

They definitely seemed to try and make the lead look like Jeffery Combs in this illustration — They definitely tried to make the lead look like Jeffery Combs in this illustration

Released in Spain as DAGON: LA SECTA DEL MAR, this horror film was directed by Stuart (RE-ANIMATOR) Gordon, written by Dennis (FROM BEYOND) Paoli and was produced by Brian (NECRONOMICON) Yuzna . This creative threesome definitely have a lot of experience producing Lovecraft-tastic horror flicks!

DAGON actually has more in common with H. P. Lovecraft’s novella ‘The Shadow Over Innsmouth’, rather than the titular short story. But, hey, so long as we get fishpeople, rainy village alleys, a monstrous sea deity and abundant tentacles, who’s complaining, right?

For me, the main selling point of Stuart Gordon’s low budget slice of Lovecraftian horror is the chance to see some cool prosthetic octopus/human hybrids. These practical makeups are effectively done.

Gordon also makes a real effort with the atmospherics, setting most of the movie during a heavy rainstorm. On the downside, though, I thought the lead actor was pretty poor (where is Jeffery Combs when you need him?) and the little snippets of CGI used in the film were of inferior quality, especially compared to the fine-looking prosthetics.

It's raining most of the time in Dagon — It’s raining most of the time in this movie

Fortunately, DAGON has more positives than negatives, featuring such horror highlights as an impressively gory skin-flaying scene and the human sacrifice finale.

...and here comes the tentacled god-monster! — …and here comes the tentacled god-monster!

Does the sacrificial victim survive? Erm... no! — Does the sacrificial victim survive? Erm… no!

And let’s not forget what is definitely my favourite moment in this Spanish production: an attractive woman called Uxía Cambarro, played by Macarena (SEXY KILLER) Gómez, lying on a bed… with tentacles for legs!