Movielogr
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)
Directed by André Øvredal
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Overview
The crew of the merchant ship Demeter attempts to survive the ocean voyage from Carpathia to London as they are stalked each night by a merciless presence onboard the ship.
Rated R | Length 119 minutes
Actors
Corey Hawkins | Aisling Franciosi | David Dastmalchian | Javier Botet | Liam Cunningham | Chris Walley | Jon Jon Briones | Stefan Kapičić | Martin Furulund | Nikolai Nikolaeff | Woody Norman | Graham Turner | Andy Murray | Nicolo Pasetti | Christopher York | Vladimir Cabak | Rudolf Danielewicz | Noureddine Farihi | Malcolm Galea | Adam Shaw | Jack Doggart | Joe Depasquale | Sally Reeve
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08/11/2023 | Movie Screen | Digital | Theater | 5.5 stars |
| (Average) 5.5 stars |
Viewing Notes
I still think some of the critic’s reviews of this are way too harsh (David Erlich’s Indiewire review in particular is an arrogant, self-involved pile of garbage that mistakes clever wordplay and quips for actual criticism) but this is also a pretty mediocre effort. From the moment the project was announced though, I had my questions about whether this was a story even worth telling. There’s a reason it was written the way it was in the original novel. The main problem is that generally speaking, the audience already knows what’s going to happen before they ever set foot in the theater. It’s just the details of how it plays out that the movie is responsible for. And that becomes a problem when your setting is a small ship at sea. There’s just not much room, literally or figuratively to maneuver. The plot is tightly bound to its location which makes the flaws painfully obvious (you can’t find a creature that you know is there on your tiny little ship?) and limits you on how you execute (literally) the mechanics of each character’s demise. While some of those scenes are great, others felt repetitive and none of them carried any real tension nor were any of the goings on particularly scary, which is maybe the greatest sin a horror movie can commit.
The usually great Liam Cunningham feels like he’s just going through the motions on this one, but David Dastmalchian gets to flex some acting muscles and looks like he’s really enjoying the role. Javier Botet as the emaciated Dracula is great. I love the look of the vampire as a more base creature who has more in common with Nosferatu than Dracula. And that makes sense as he’s in the process of making a long journey by land and sea and so cannot feed as he might normally. I do wish they’d gone a little further in his transformation as he picks off the crew one by one.
The creature design itself is great, as is the ship itself. It’s just too bad they didn’t do a better job of using that unique architectural space to greater advantage.
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