“We’re a doomed crew, on a doomed ship,” Captain Elliot (Liam Cunningham)
Dracula’s long ride by boat and coffin from Transylvania to London is only briefly touched on by Bram Stoker but rather entertainingly depicted in a claustrophobic new film called The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Although it never rises above B-movie status, it is darkly atmospheric enough to satisfy horror hounds and those of us interested in how almost 2 hours aboard a cinematic ship can be, well, bitingly amusing.
Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a doctor, astronomer, and Black man, comes aboard at the last stop before London and joins the crew. Soon to be discovered from an opened crate is Anna (Aisling Franciosi), a Romani woman intended to be light feasting for the always hungry Count Dracula, still hidden amongst the dirt of the mysterious crates that seem an awful lot like coffins.
It does not take much imagination to guess that at night the Count is going to rise from his dirt encrusted crate to roam the ship looking for snacks. He does, and only with the intervention of the doctor and Anna is the entire crew saved from complete annihilation. Director Andre Ovredal does a yeoman’s job keeping us guessing and fearing about the Count’s next meal.
It is the sleek way Overdal keeps us not grossed out that makes this rendition exciting and nail-biting without relying on gore, too many jump scares, or stupid solo walks. Although we know how it will end, we nonetheless feel the terror as this monster has scary similarities to Alien and Nosferatu.
Spanish actor Javier Botet has the unenviable job of playing Count Orlok (really Dracula but early Nosferatu avoided proprietary restrictions by calling him Orlok). He has part bat-like appendages, part Alien visage, and a whole lot of Devil-like ugly, leading me to question why filmmakers even try when our imaginations can be trusted to supply their own grotesque CGI.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter is not as great as the scare-fests of the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s with Max Shreck, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, or my recent fav, Klaus Kinski, but it will do for now: horrible to behold, uncomfortable to think about, and friendly to revisit one of cinema’s enduring legends. In theaters.
Last Voyage of the Demeter
Director: Andre Ovredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe)
Screenplay: Bragi F. Schut (Escape Room), Zak Olkewicz (Bullet Train) from Bram Stoker
Cast: Corey Clemens (BlacKKKlansman), Aisling Franciosi (The Nightengale)
Run Time: 1h 58m
Rating: R
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts NPR’s It’s Movie Time and hosts Cinema Classics as well as podcasts Back Talk and Double Take out of WCBE 90.5 FM. Contact him at JohnDeSando52@gmail.com
