I've been highly anticipating this from the time I first found out about it. I'm a huge fan of André Øvredal's 'Trollhunter,' and 'The autopsy of Jane Doe'; while I'm not familiar with everyone in the cast, there are a few names that distinctly catch my eye. And for all the delicious, classic horror that Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' represents, and its subsequent adaptations, the fate of the ship that carried Dracula across the sea has broadly been as underrepresented in various iterations as it is fantastically understated. All this has built up my excitement for this 2023 movie for months - though on the other hand, while I thought maybe the flavor was just a reflection of how it was cut for marketing purposes, the first trailer to be released carried a tone that instilled some doubt into my mind. One way or another I've very much been looking forward to 'The last voyage of the Demeter.' Now that I've seen it, I'm glad to say that I did quite enjoy it, and I think it earns a fair recommendation, especially for fans of the genre. It's not necessarily all that I had hoped it would be, however, nor perhaps everything that it could have been.
In terms of cinematic storytelling, this faces the same issue to overcome as any given historical drama, which is that the story is very well known, and we know how it ends. The objective in any such instance is to make the course of events matter despite that knowledge. In this case, Øvredal emphasizes the violence: the attacks, the blood and gore, the ruin of the ship, and for that matter the monstrous appearance of this interpretation of Dracula. This is the primary source of the horror in this picture - not jump scares, not atmosphere, but the sheer unnatural brutality that befalls the Demeter and all on board. Admittedly, this is not the direction I was hoping the film would take, least of all based on the expectations that had been built up for me prior to that trailer, which as it turns out truly reflects the tone of the finished product. I don't know if it was the ideal choice, and it's not the choice I would have made had I been behind this feature, but of course, I'm not, and Øvredal is. Be that as it may, all the violence is very gnarly, to be sure, and thankfully it all looks fantastic. One can either accept that this is the path taken, and appreciate the ride along the way, or reject it and "hate-watch." I appreciate it, with caveats.
Let me speak more plainly, though. The problem that 'The last voyage of the Demeter' faces, in multiple ways, is that in the push to zero in on the visceral content and make the title as ugly as it could be (while not straying outside the bounds of what is acceptable to a general audience), it sometimes goes too far, becoming heavy-handed and much too overt. We see this, for example, in the most obvious examples of CGI, where the camera moreover lingers too long; we hear it, at too many points, in Bear McCreary's score, enlisting chords and ideas that are downright conventional; and we see it in the employment of genre tropes, which - well done as they are - are a little tiresome. Pathetic fallacy; jump scares by way of sound or image; the broad ease of knowing who will be the last characters standing; giving heroic, defiant, but all too tried and true lines to those who are left: these illustrate some of the lesser notions that the movie trades in. The slant toward being heavy-handed and overt unfortunately extends to other facets in turn: the entire opening scene, for example, is unnecessary, and even more so is the text that precedes it since the subsequent scene renders the words redundant. A voiceover in the last minutes dampens the excitement that should follow on at least an unconscious level as we know in our hearts what terror comes next in the saga (beyond the scope of these two hours). And so on.
In fairness, criticize the end result as one might (and, in my opinion, should), at large it's wonderfully well made. Barring the most transparent instances, the post-production wizardry looks as real and believable as it could; all the practical effects and stunts are superb. The ship is a beauty, and the sets all around are terrific, flush with detail, not to mention the filming locations. For that matter, the costume design, hair, and makeup are excellent, as are the props and weapons. Tom Stern's cinematography and Patrick Larsgaard's editing are equally sharp and tight, and setting aside my qualms about the tone, Øvredal's capabilities as a director are never in question. Though some of his compositions feel kind of lazy in their commonness, I rather love McCreary's score more than not, and some of the themes are just splendid in their bombast or in the tinge of dread ambience that they lend to the proceedings. I take exception to some thoughts that Bragi Schut Jr. And Zak Olkewicz poured into the screenplay, inclusions that were needless, ordinary, or a step too far, yet in the broad strokes the writing is solid as it lays the foundation for an adaptation of a single underappreciated chapter in Stoker's masterwork. And I have no notes for the cast - I love them all. It's Aisling Franciosi, David Dastmalchian, and Liam Cunningham that I know best among the ensemble, and I indeed think they stand out most, but Corey Hawkins, even Javier Botet, and everyone else on hand just as surely illustrates their acting skills and inform me that I would be well served by finding more of their credits to watch.
Here's one more critique, though: that in contrast to the stark violence and heavy-handed, overt overall tack, there are some aspects that are altogether magnificent in how they were handled. For that disparity, and seeing glimpses of a parallel path 'Demeter' may have sailed, this journey is lessened in turn. To illustrate that point, I refer you to those titles that most immediately raised, partially in vain, my hopes for this film. 'Jane Doe' was definitely one, for its brilliance was in the slow build, the softly increasing awareness that something was terribly wrong, before all hell broke loose. Yes, 'Trollhunter' was another, for while it's a very different type of genre flick, it's marked by remarkable intelligence and wit in its writing and direction (both credited to Øvredal) that made it a fun horror romp that nonetheless felt meaningful. And chiefly I think of Werner Herzog's 'Nosferatu the Vampyre,' wherein the doomed vessel is a quiet set piece, a looming harbinger of the death that comes - a masterstroke of subtle atmosphere. Indeed, we get shades of these qualities in this adaptation: in the gnawing hopelessness and dawning inevitability that gradually overtake those on board; in the exquisite special makeup, refined and nuanced, that more underhandedly brings to bear the nature of the threat facing the ship. Above all, we get shades of these qualities in a select few scenes where the tenor isn't vim and vigor, but haunting sorrow, and grim realization - the proverbial tolling of the bell that signals very definitively what hellish fate awaits those who yet survive. (A select few scenes which, incidentally, all spotlight Franciosi and her character, both of whom arguably benefited from the best writing in the entire picture.) We see shades of the more delicate, discriminating, cunning, and devilishly insidious bent that this might have adopted instead of the plainspoken, sometimes all too tactless intensity, or which may have served that intensity better were there more balance between the two sides of the coin. But, alas, that's not the feature Universal has distributed.
I have written some harsh words, so allow me to reiterate that I do, actually, enjoy this. I like it, I think it's entertaining, I think it's well made with fine contributions from all involved, and it satisfies the craving for horror cinema that impels one to check it out in the first place. I don't like it as much as I would have, however, had more attentive, mindful care been taken in some specific manners; furthermore, a part of me wonders if I'm not being too generous in my assessment. What it comes down to is that Øvredal has made a good genre flick, as sturdy as the Demeter when she first left port, and it's deserving on its own merits, with some particular highlights including the cast. It could have been great, however, or possibly even outstanding, and for all those ways in which we see the glory that might have been, its faults and shortcomings simply drag it down too much for it to reach another level. I'm glad for those who get more out of it than I do, and I don't begrudge those who regard it more poorly. I'm glad I took the time to watch; I just wish it weren't so readily apparent what more it may have achieved. 'The last voyage of the Demeter' is worthwhile, but sadly just not the unreservedly entrancing viewing experience it had the potential to be.
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