This production looks like a basic math exercise; Considering the film lasts 119 minutes and there are eight passengers on board the boat, how many minutes elapse between each death?
In the original version of Dracula, the epistolary novel by Bram Stoker, the Demeter’s captain’s log is 1951 words long. So screenwriters Bragi F. Schut and Zak Olkewicz used their imaginations to fill in the blanks and managed to stretch this tasteless gravy to, yes, 119 minutes.
We know what’s going to happen from the start. The Demeter transports a heavy freighter with the vampire and her country’s land to London. The mysterious boxes with the sign of the dragon – “The devil’s beast”, calls a sailor before his escape – house Dracula, who comes out of them every evening to quench his blood thirst. We also know there will be no survivors, the ship docking in Britain is a ghost ship.
What then, you will rightly ask, is the meaning of “The Last Journey of Demeter”? I’m tempted to answer with a curt “no” before clarifying that the way the sailors die or the terror that reigns on board would have a playground for a new, modern and exciting exploration of Dracula can and should offer.
But no. The gory deaths follow one another at a metronomic pace – yes, every night – beginning with those of the animals on board. To cut a good figure there is a woman (Aisling Franciosi), a black man (Corey Hawkins) and a child (Woody Norman). Bragi F. Schut has stated that his source of inspiration was… Alien!
We also say that the horrific camera will shine with its suspense, production and special effects. No! The suspense is non-existent – we already know the ending -, the direction by André Øvredal (“Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”) is mediocre and the favorable special effects show us a winged and monstrous Dracula, all without the charms of the Figure of Gary Oldman in Coppola’s version or the newer version of Luke Evans, signed by Gary Shore (the not-so-bad unreleased Dracula).
Yes, we sigh and get bored of regretting that horribly missed opportunity, and in the end we even think Morbius was less bad overall.
PS – Music can’t catch up with this shipwreck, Bear McCreary (the brilliant composer of the BSG series soundtrack), who temporarily replaced Thomas Newman (the no less brilliant composer of the American Beauty soundtrack), sadly made an unforgettable one.
Rating: 1 out of 5
“Demeter’s Last Journey” will be in cinemas on August 11th.