The latest Dracula adaptation, The Last Voyage of The Demeter, expands upon a short chapter of Bram Stoker’s novel and perfectly captures the tone and horror of Stoker's classic! The film is masterfully directed by André Øvredal, his past films include writing and directing Trollhunter (2010) which used found footage from students who follow the trail of a kaiju-sized Troll! Øvredal also directed the horror anthology film, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019). The story and screenplay is by Bragi F. Schut who also wrote Escape Room (2019). His co-screenwriter, Zak Olkewicz, also co-wrote the action movie, Bullet Train (2022). Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) contains the chapter, “The Captain’s Log”, which is only about five pages long!
There has been an almost endless series of movies featuring Dracula from the 1931 classic featuring Bela Lugosi, then Christopher Lee starred in the Hammer film, Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), to Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), directed by Francis Ford Coppola. This year, Nicholas Cage played Dracula in the horror comedy, Renfield. It begins in 1897, explained in title cards, with the Russian schooner, The Demeter. A rainy night has three people with flashlights knocking on the door of the constable. They report a shipwreck. This is set in August 4th in Whitby on the eastern coast of England. We hear the narrator, Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham), note that his journal is “record and a warning.” Davos Seaworth was played by Cunningham in Game of Thrones.
The ship has a ripped sail like a shroud and it is bloody. There is a dragon symbol, I knew of the association with that symbol, on a wooden crate. The fate of the crew is mysterious. We go to four weeks earlier, the 6th of July, at Varna, a city in Bulgaria. There is a gambling den at the port with Clemens (Cory Hawkins) at a card table. Hawkins was in MonsterVerse film, Kong: Skull Island (2017). Also, at the docks is The Demeter seen on its nameboard, along with its figurehead of the Greek goddess of the harvest. A young boy, Toby (Woody Norman), goes to help his grandfather, Captain Eliot. Norman is also in this year’s horror movie, Cobweb. Looking to fill the crew is the captain and First Mate Wojcheck David Dastmalchian). Mentat Piter de Vries was played by Dastmalchian in Dune (2021). He loyal to the ship and Captain Eliot.
Clemens hears about the voyage and forfeits his game to volunteer. He meets with Wojcheck and says that he graduated from the University of Cambridge and can work as the ship’s doctor. Clemens is not only the doctor, but the scientific voice. The first mate doubts he will be strong enough to join the crew. Instead, a one-eyed, tall man (Noureddine Farihi) is chosen. The wagons deliver crates to the Demeter. The lead driver insists that they leave before sunset and refuses to load the crates onto the ship. The sunlight is very sharp. The cinematography by Roman Osin and he worked on Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Tom Stern. It made me think that it should muted in a filter to create more of a Gothic atmosphere. During the loading of the crates, the one-eyed man sees the dragon symbol and leaves the pulley rope.
It sends the crate falling towards Toby until Clemens saves him! The one-eyed man leaves and warns them about dragons. The fallen crate tips with black earth spilling to the dock. Captain Eliot signals Wojcheck to cast off and the Demeter heads out to sea. The wagons in the hills above Varna are there to watch the ship. There is a beautiful effects shot of the Demeter sailing in the sunset. Toby takes Clemens and us on a tour of the ship, and introduces the dog, Huckleberry, Huck. He shows Clemens the signal, knocking on wood, in case there’s any trouble. This goes through most of the ship and is the sound that lingers like the clapping in The Conjuring (2013). Then, Clemens meets the ship’s cook, Joseph (Jon Jon Briones) who is very religious. Briones starred as Ariel Augustus in American Horror Story.
He questions Clemens who knows that St. Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors. A cast of characters is established with the innocent child, veteran leader, loyal second-in-command, religious person, and doctor. The rest of the crew; Stefan Kapicic (Olgaren), Nikolai Nikolaeff (Petrofsky), Martin Furulund (Larsen), Chris Walley (Abrams), are not too identifiable, but they are good sailors. The Stoker novel makes clear that the voyage is doomed and I expected everyone to fall prey to Dracula. The journal entry notes that they hope to reach London before August. Captain Eliot confides to Wojcheck that this is his final voyage and will retire to an Irish cottage. Wojcheck will be made captain when they reach London. The dragon crate lid lifts up and sends the rats scattering away.
LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER -- COREY HAWKINS, AISLING FRANCIOSI -- Photo Credit: Rainer Bajo/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment © 2023 Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.
Later, the crew is eating and Clemens explains that his purpose is “to understand this world.” Huck starts barking, Toby goes to check the livestock, and the animal screams are heard! Clemens pulls sheets over the cages to calm them and sends Toby for the captain. He checks the cargo hold holding a lantern. Chains are heard rattling. The sounds and visuals make watching the film in theaters a required experience. Clemens finds the tipped crate and a mound of earth. He finds there, a pale, woman, Anna (Aisling Franciosi) gasping for air. Franciosi played Lyanna Stark in Game of Thrones. In a way, the character reminds me of another Anna in Predator (1987). She knows of the creature and lived in the same place as its hunting ground. Toby brings Clemens’ medical bag as the doctor prepares a blood transfusion. Clemens injects the needle on himself to help Anna. A clawed hand reaches for the mound.
The doctor believes his patient suffers from a blood infection. Wojcheck wants to throw the stowaway overboard. Instead, the captain sets the carptenter’s shed for her quarters. A crewman is using a spyglass to see the Aegean rocks, he turns to see an inhuman face, we know him to be Dracula! Javier Botet plays the vampire, feral, more beast than suave count. He looks bald and pale like Nosferatu. Clemens takes the steering wheel, it is tied off, and knocks on the rail, it is answered along the ship. He is startled by Olgaren who says, “There is something out there.” Huck sees a shadow in the cargo hold, he barks, and the shadow starts to move! The threat of Dracula takes the crew one by one. There is a scene in the film that nauseated me, not of blood, but the black, clawed fingers holding a face. The tone and terror of this movie is the closest I’ve imagined in the classic novel. The Voyage of the Demeter is intense, one of the best horror films in some time, with a great cast and respect for the Bram Stoker book!
Five+ Spyglasses out of Five!
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