Over the past few years, Norwegian filmmaker and screenwriter André Øvredal has been quietly creating a distinctive portfolio. His stylistic approach is moody, chilling, and crisp—a raw, haunting look at the terrors that lurk in the dark. He impressed with 2010’s Trollhunter, and his love of horror shone in his creep-out hit The Autopsy of Jane Doe and his monster-filled adaptation of Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Øvredal’s approach to fear is deep-rooted, instinctive, and stunning. In his latest film The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Øvredal continues to establish himself as the master of our nightmares.
Demeter is an adaptation of a singular chapter, “The Captain’s Log,” from Bram Stoker’s 1897 landmark novel Dracula. The film unveils the enigmatic fate that befell the crew of the doomed schooner Demeter, which unknowingly carried the titular vampire from Carpathia, Romania, to Whitby, England.
The film begins on the dark, blustery shores of the United Kingdom, where the town constable and lighthouse keeper investigate a ghostly ship that’s run aground. The men find the captain’s log in the wreck, and we are taken back in time to a month prior. We are introduced to Demeter‘s crew—led by Captain Elliot (Game of Thrones‘ Liam Cunningham) and first mate Wojchek (David Dastmalchian, of The Dark Knight). The grizzled sailors are tasked with transporting private cargo, including multiple heavy crates. One is marked with the crest of a black, snarling dragon. Though they are scolded and warned that this signet is a bad omen by one of the would-be crewmen, the men brush it off and set sail for England. Joining them is good-natured medical doctor Clemens (Corey Hawkins), who longs to return home to London.
When night falls and a ghostly fog encompasses the Demeter, the ship’s animals are torn apart, men begin to get picked off by a gangly humanoid creature (Javier Botet), and a mysterious woman named Anna (Aisling Franciosi) is found covered in dirt in one of the crates. As it becomes increasingly evident that the crest was a bad omen after all, it’s far too late for the men of the Demeter.
There are a few holes here, noticeably in Franciosi’s Anna. The young, doomed stowaway gets lost in the narrative, and it appears her only purpose here is to tell the mariners who Dracula is. We didn’t need it, and neither did our ragtag crew. While Francisosi’s performance is smooth and adds an ethereal feel to an otherwise nightmarish story, Anna’s backstory doesn’t make much sense and isn’t necessary. It would have been more effective in fear and tension building if the crew had been completely blind to Dracula and what he is—that they had no clue what this bloodthirsty, bat-winged behemoth is that’s plaguing their voyage.
Demeter isn’t the scariest film to hit theaters, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a hell of a good time. Like a love letter to maritime ghost stories like The Terror and entertaining historical features like The Raven, Demeter is an atmospheric and claustrophobic thrill ride that provides plenty of heart-pounding horror moments.
These scenes stand out, especially in the performance of the brilliant Botet, a long-time horror actor who has been in flicks like Mama, Barbarian, Slender Man, and [Rec]. His ability to manipulate his physicality and create a primal, bloodthirsty, and desperately cruel Dracula is highly commendable. The horrifying visual of a spidery Dracula crawling around on his bony elbows, lapping up a thick trail of blood from splintered wood, is one of the film’s most memorable sequences.
Hawkins plays Clemens with heart and courage but leans a little too hard into the skeptic trope. Cunningham is a hard-nosed but loving Elliot and plays the ill-fated captain with pensiveness and emotion. Dastmalchian—complete with an Eastern European accent, angry eyes, and a tattered fisherman sweater—continues to prove himself as a commanding presence on screen and a promising face in horror. Dastmalchian’s got it, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.
Demeter’s visuals are the film’s greatest achievement. From Botet’s practical effects for Dracula to the rough, violent seas and the ship’s ghoulish figurehead carrying a glowing lantern through the thickening fog, Øvredal effortlessly sucks us into this isolated hell. In doing this, he creates not a run-of-the-mill horror flick, but an effective, harrowing ghost story.
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The Last Voyage of the Demeter
2023
dir. André Øvredal
119 min.
Opens Friday, 8/11 in theaters everywhere (though the Hassle recommends Apple Cinemas Cambridge or the locally-owned multiplex of your choice)
