The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Isolation is the scariest way to die and when you call a ship your home, then you're almost destined to die with it.


PLOT


Based on a chapter of Bram Stoker's Dracula novel, 'The Log of the Demeter', 2023's The Last Voyage of the Demeter takes place in 1867 and follows the crew of the titular ship. Captain Eliot has been given a cargo bound for London by Romanian workers who pay for the shipment and quickly departing before sundown. A young African named Clemens offers his services as a doctor after recently graduating from the University of Cambridge. The quartermaster Wojchek rejects him as he seeks an older man with experience, but changes his mind when the former saves the captain's grandson Toby from a loose crate falling. The crate was only loose due to one of the crewmen being startled of a dragon emblem on the container that symbolizes a bad omen. When another crate falls as the ship departs, a woman named Anna is found inside buried in dirt. Clemens presumes her to be sick and gives her a blood transfusion, intending to save her from whatever is infecting her. By the next night as the ship passes the Aegean Sea, Clemens and Olgaren would see a fanged figure shrouded in fog on the deck. The creature would start feasting all animal livestock on deck, including the ship’s pet dog Huckleberry. With no proof on who was responsible, Olgaren expresses no man could have done so. After throwing the carcasses to avoid possible rabies, the first human to die by night is Petrofsky (Nikolai Nikolaeff) who gets mauled by the beast who reveals to be winged. When Clemens reports him missing, Wojchek suspects he must’ve fell overboard if no one in the crew is responsible. When Anna wakes up, she reveals that the one responsible is the vampiric Dracula and was to given to him by her people in Transylvania as a slave of blood in exchange of her town being left in peace. She proves so with various bite marks on her body that she shows. Shortly after this does the vampire kill Larsen (Martin Furulund) before turning Olgaren. The crew would restrain the infected man, but the vampire is then able to bite Toby as well by next night. The day after does Olgaren get tied to the mast for chasing the boy into damnation, but he would burst into flames when exposed to the sunlight. With another night passing, Clemens & Anna check the cargo to find Dracula’s coffin, only to also find multiple crates of dirt. During this search Joseph the cook (Jon Jon Briones) get killed as well by the vampire. Despite being given a blood transfusion like Anna, Toby is declared dead. But during the boy’s funeral, Eliot sees his grandson move and when he chooses to unwrap him from the sailcloth, he gets exposed to the burns he got from the sunlight. Only after the burns does Clemens get to throw the undead into the ocean. With no other option, Clemens plans to destroy the ship and cause the vampire to drown in order to keep him from reaching London. That doesn’t go as planned however when it then kills Wojchek, Abrams (Chris Walley) and the captain. Clemens & Anna try to escape with the remaining lifeboat, but the vampire intercepts and tries to take the former’s life until the latter’s intervenes. Once she does, he retaliates by biting her again. As he does so, Clemens is able to strike him with an axe and trap him with the mast. Only after does he & Anna abandon ship, but Dracula is able to escape with his super strength once the ship starts running aground on the British Coast. Clemens would reach ashore, but Anna would die from sunlight exposure as her blood transfusions had only delayed the infection. When reaching London, he goes to a local tavern and draws a portrait of Anna in his notebook. When he hears someone give the ‘all clear’ knocking signal, he spots Dracula dressed as an aristocrat. The film would end with Clemens following his shadow, vowing avenge Anna and the crew.


THOUGHTS


It’s always ambitious when a film adaptation of a novel is made as we’d see a good summary of how such a compelling story would unfold, but it is a whole other ballgame to adapt just a specific chapter and nothing else. Director André Øvredal and the writing duo of Zak Olkewicz & Bragi Schut Jr. knew this yet were still able to set up a narrative that was captivating in its own way. This is not the first time we’ve seen Dracula do his deeds as any other villain, but this is one of the cases where he doesn’t have a disguise and is beautifully haunting thanks to incredible makeup designed by Göran Lundström. With it, monster actor Javier Botet is able to become the iconic villain with ease. The big difference he has from past actors is that he is relentlessly hungry, which gives him all the reason to be as sadistic as he can to eat all that’s around him. You feel the fear that he’s all about thanks to a compelling score by Bear McCreary and creative cinematography by Tom Stern as you can’t guarantee where he’ll strike. Knowing that he is the most powerful force in his era, you get the sense of helplessness until you get a group of protagonists that remind us that faith in yourself can be enough to overcome evil. Corey Hawkins is a strong lead as Clemens because he is the only one who chooses to be analytical with each decision, whereas David Dastmalchian & Liam Cunningham make strong leaders as Wojchek & Eliot respectively but make the mistake of not looking past what they already know to better their odds. That is due to the attachment they have to the ship that has been their livelihood. As a second home, it pains them to be outsmarted in a place they thought to have known from top to bottom. Nevertheless, they proved bravery when dying with what they loved. The same can be said with Olgaren, but the difference is that Stefan Kapičić portrays him as the only one to be open minded that a monster would be lurking. Sadly for him, his suspicion came true and he died a slow death. Many could agree that Toby was the movie’s biggest victim due to the youth Woody Norman was all about, as he only sought adventure only to get cursed. The only one to top him in who had it worse was Anna because Aisling Franciosi shows her to be one thrown into a life she never asked for. Despite her circumstances, she does the right thing being helpful when explaining what the crew is up against and takes part in defending herself when arming up. It may have not gone the way anyone wanted, but I still respect her efforts. Her death is sad as well because this was most inevitable. If Clemens had similar research like Van Helsing, then he likely would’ve found the right weakness to makeshift before even destroying the ship. He may have not slain Dracula since this is set in the same novel that led to the Harkers defeating the monster, it goes without saying the death of the fallen were not in vein and if Clemens was there to be part of a victory, then I’m sure he’d get to live his next chapter of life in honor of them. This movie is fine on its own, but there were some things that confused me upon rewatching. For starters, why doesn’t anyone check the cargo within the first two days? If the captain is getting paid to transport something deemed delicate or precious, he’s got the right to know what he’s shipping. And how exactly did Dracula sweep so many rats to be in the dirt cargo? I mean I’m surprised he didn’t eat them before eating the other animals. In fact, why didn’t the crew catch any of them? If the vampire ate them, that should’ve been said. Moving on, how come Clemens didn’t see the bite marks on Anna when checking on her? I know he only needed to give her a blood transfusion at the time, but there would’ve been nothing wrong if he looked elsewhere on her body to see other infections. And why are the only blades available happen to be knives? I mean a ship as big as the Demeter should’ve had a few swords around and not just for display. That even leads to me saying Clemens should’ve not hesitated stabbing Olgaren once he saw him turn around slowly. Also, why the hell was Anna the only one getting a gun to try saving Toby? She may be the only one knowing what was up, but every guy should’ve been over the top to protect a kid, especially his grandpa. Lastly, I don’t think it made sense for Clemens to tell her to hide as they were destroying the ship. I know he was being a gentleman, but it’s pointless to hide when they knew Dracula will find them either way. Other than that, this movie works for what it is. In short, The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a solid monster mash for giving the right amount of tension you’d expect. If you’re still into vampires after the Twilight era, check this out.