in their book "lurker in the lobby: the guide to the cinema of h. p. lovecraft", andrew migliore and john strysik write that "gordon nicely creates the decayed humanity of lovecraft's innsmouth" but also that the film's "relentlessness" is "draining and numbing." they conclude: ""dagon" is a dark story well told, but for some lovecraft lovers, it may be a fish that should have gotten away."