The Last Voyage of the Demeter 2023)

I know this movie bombed hard in theaters, but box office returns are not always an indication of the quality of the film.  John Carpenter's The Thing was a dud upon its release in 1982, and savaged by most critics.  Yet, decades later, the film is considered a classic, and many critics have reappraised the film favorably.

I doubt this will happen for The Last Voyage of the Demeter.  It's not that the pieces aren't there to make a great horror film.  The cast is solid, director André Øvredal (Trollhunter, The Autopsy of Jane Doe) delivers some amazing moments, the sets feel as eerie and dark as I imagine a 1800s merchant ship would have been, and the deaths are brutal, as this Dracula less of a nobleman and more a vicious demon from Hell (in appearance as well).

Oh yeah, this Dracula is nightmare fuel.

But the script by Bragi Schut Jr. and Zak Olkewicz feels inert, especially in the opening act, which spends too much time foreshadowing what the audience knows will happen.  And they fail to deliver any character development to a point where we care who lives or dies, which is not good.  It's no spoiler to say they're going to die (well, most of them), as the Demeter has a cinematic history in Dracula films (at least the early ones). 

The film opens as multiple crates are loaded onto the Demeter, with the person delivering the cargo looks towards the ship with an ominous gaze before moving on.  A recent hire, upon seeing the dragon crest on one of the crates, suddenly quits, allowing Clemens (Corey Hawkins, Kong: Skull Island) to join the crew.

During the voyage, one of the crates falls over, and Clemens finds a young woman within a pile of dirt.  As he's a doctor educated at the University of Cambridge, he diagnoses the woman as having an infection and starts transfusing his blood into her.

Okay, this could bring up comments, but I have to deal with this point.  Clemens is a Black man, transfusing his blood into a Caucasian woman, in the 1800s.  And while Clemens mentions not being able to practice due to the color of his skin, this procedure isn't questioned by any member of the crew.  Given the period setting, it feels off that no one has an objection, or to having a Black medical officer.  Sure, the crew is ready to throw her overboard, as a stowaway would tax their meager food supply.  But not having anyone object to Clemens, and his treatment of his patient, just doesn't fit the period.  I suspect the screenwriters didn't want to deal with the obvious issues.  It didn't need to be a major point of the movie, but I think it should have been acknowledged.

Anyway, that night, the ship's livestock are slaughtered, and though the carcasses show bite wounds, the crew throw them overboard, fearing a rabies outbreak.  But the woman, Anna (Aisling Franciosi) awakens from her coma and tells the crew that Dracula, whom she was sacrificed to by her town, is onboard and going to be feasting upon them soon.

As expected, mayhem ensues.

I told you this was coming.  But did you listen to me?  Of course not.  Have to keep the movie rolling.

As I mentioned earlier, the pieces were in place for a great horror film.  Øvredal delivers some terrific scenes, the CGI effects of the Demeter weathering storms look amazing, and the scenes of a predatory Dracula attacking the crew are well done.  And when the film kills a child, in a pretty horrific manner, it shows that no one is safe.  Well, not really, as it's obvious someone is going to survive.  

But all that doesn't overcome the script's problems I mentioned earlier.  The first act has too much foreshadowing that we don't need.  Any horror fan, or audience member with a brief knowledge of the novel or earlier cinematic adaptations of the story, knows what's coming.  And the over foreshadowing makes Clemens acceptance as a crew member feel too convoluted.  After a crate falls during loading onto the ship, allowing Clemens to save the captain's son, and causing the person chosen over him to declare the symbol of a dragon on the crate is a bad omen (more foreshadowing), Clemens gains his spot on the ship.  The entire sequence is just too damn much.

Also, as the script doesn't develop the crew beyond common stereotypical fodder.  It's fine to use stereotypes to flesh out characters, but not if we're expected to watch their fates throughout the entire film.  Aliens gave a lot of the Marines stereotypical backstories, but most of those were killed early on.  This film doesn't have that luxury, and the choice to develop them in such broad strokes shows.  And, based on that, we know someone will survive.  Guess who.

Oh, and here's where we get into spoilers.  Skip the next three paragraphs if you haven't seen the film and plan to watch it as some point.

Ready?  Here we go.

Dracula hates spoilers as well, and is issuing you a warning.

The finale, sorry to say, is ridiculous.  Clemens and Anna find the crate of dirt that Dracula is sleeping in during the day, and formulate a pretty stupid plan.  Their idea is to use Anna, at night, to lure Dracula onto the deck, somehow trap him there, and sink the Demeter.  And this is from a Cambridge educated doctor.  

Hey, I'm don't have a degree from such a prestigious university, but I've got a couple better ideas.  First, I can't believe Anna doesn't know about the stake through the heart cure to the problem.  But even if she didn't, the crew could secure the crate with ropes once the sun rises, and Dracula is inside, bring it out of the cargo hold, and toss it overboard.  

Sure, I understand the crew may lack the equipment to do that.  But another solution exists.  Sail the ship in a direction where sunlight will fill the cargo hold, open the lid, and let Dracula burn to death.  The crew witnessed those killed by Dracula ignite when exposed to sunlight, what's keeping Clemens and Anna to assume he won't?  Oh, yeah, have to keep the legend of the Demeter alive.  But if your script is playing loose with the original tale (and it is), you can take some liberties with the tale, and still have Dracula end up in London.

End of spoilers.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter had so much potential.  The sets are terrific, the effects look great (I have to admit, I watched this at home and the effects looked pretty good on my TV, so I can't offer an opinion on the CGI used on Dracula).  But the script sunk this film for me long before the Demeter crashes onto the English coast.  I loved the final scene, as the survivor is in a bar and Dracula acts like a sadistic prick, taunting them before making a quick exit.  And I like the idea of the survivor might meet up with Van Helsing's vampire hunters in the future.  But based on the box office returns, I doubt it will happen.

And how does he plan on fitting into proper British society looking like this?  I know he's wearing

a cloak and hood at the end, but really?