Worth: $14.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian, Nikolai Nikolaeff
Intro:
… a really well shot, well acted and well executed horror film.
Before air travel became all the rage, humanity required the use of boats to cross the vast expanses of salty liquid that covers 70% of this soggy little planet. Back in the late 1890s, boats were very different to the luxury COVID and dysentery hotspots we have today, relying solely on the fickle wind and crews of salty sea dogs to get to their destinations.
Such a location is prime real estate for a horror yarn, as can be seen in Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter (less clunkily titled The Last Voyage of the Demeter in other territories), the new film from André Øvredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark).
Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter expands upon the “Log of the Demeter” chapter of Bram Stoker’s revered tome. It essentially ends up being the story of the crew as their doomed voyage heads into choppy waters.
We follow Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a talented physician who can’t find work because of the colour of his skin, grizzled Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham) who wants to finish his final voyage and live in peace, and first mate Wojchek (David Dastmalchian), whose prickly manner and natural suspicion make him a hard man to like but a good man to know. And then, of course, there’s the cargo that the crew will be taking to Old Blighty, part of which includes Anna (Aisling Franciosi), an unwitting stowaway who has an all-too-intimate knowledge of the titular terror that begins to stalk the ship at night.
Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter is beset by cliches, both in the characterisation and the storytelling. There’s nothing particularly unique about any of the events in this flick and you’re unlikely to be struck dumb with amazement. The good news, however, is that this is a really well shot, well acted and well executed horror film. What it lacks in revelatory plotting, it makes up for with good old fashioned (perhaps a trifle stodgy) yarn-spinning and manages to engage for the most part. Liam Cunningham and Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale) are particularly good here, elevating the material considerably, and David Dastmalchian also delivers a solid, uncomfortable performance in that weirdly twitchy way only he can. Props also need to go to Javier Botet (seen in the REC franchise and a dozen other fright flicks) who portrays the film’s sinewy, bat-like version of Dracula that, while revealed a little too early, is nonetheless a highlight.
If you’re hoping for a subversive reinvention of the Dracula story, or something truly revelatory, you’re probably going to be a little disappointed with Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter. If, however, you’re looking for a couple of hours of effectively staged, meat and potatoes gothic horror with a few very effective set pieces, then this is probably the best horrific boat trip for your money since the Ruby Princess pulled into dock.
