Longtime readers of SciFiHistory.Net know of my fondness for vampire flicks.
Yes, yes, and yes: some of the readership might insist this is only because I’ve self-published my very own novel in the wide, wide world of Horror yarnspinning. But the truth is I’ve always had a fascination with monster movies – of which I think the bloodsuckers are included – chiefly because they usually don’t abide by the usual rules that make up that subculture of productions. While most beasts operate around the idea that audiences might sympathize with, this particular branch of the Undead rarely if ever gets such treatment; and it makes for some very interesting stories sometimes staked out over multiple decades. More than just pains in the neck, these Nosferatu are here to stay, and it’s to my delight.
Now, I’ll also concede that vampire stories have grown a bit – ahem – long in the tooth. Having been around for well over a century (yes, even on film!), these characters only occasionally benefit from a bit of re-invention where perhaps they’re given a new, mystical power or some scribe figures out a way to present vamps with a bit of freshness. 2023’s The Last Voyage Of The Demeter – as an example – actually went back to elements of what’s long been considered the founding text of these upir: Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” introduces some of the facts about how the illustrious Count made his way from Bulgaria to London, postulating that the merchant ship known as the Demeter met with tragedy when it was consigned to transport the immortal legend in some secrecy.
One might think that using this construct the film would’ve both paid respects to the original text while paving the way for a potential new chapter in the growing pantheon of theatrical adventures of vampires … but – as often happens – today’s political leanings pretty exsanguinated what lifeblood there was in the creative beating heart and left the prospects for a new legacy better off dead. Google.com reports that the project is considered a box office flop, crashing on the shores with less than half of its production budget recouped in ticket sales.
Sigh.
The Count deserved better. But so did we.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A crew sailing from Varna (Bulgaria) by the Black Sea To England find that they are carrying very dangerous cargo.”
Whether one likes this or not, the original Dracula story is a decidedly and fundamentally masculine tale.
You see, the Count is a man. Abraham Van Helsing? Also a man. While Dracula and what he does – seducing others to serve both his bidding and his appetites – might be a bit open to interpretation, the reality of his maleness cannot be separated from his mythology, thus perhaps inadvertently making statements about the existing patriarchy than author Stoker never intended but stand the test of time nonetheless. In this adventure of good man chasing bad man in order to save mankind from its potential destruction, masculinity matters in more ways than a feminist might wish to admit … and removing that foundational context certainly puts any retelling at risk of being inferior and/or (gasp!) boring at the onset.
But … Hollywood and the wide expanse of the entertainment industry can’t help but pull the fangs out of anything remotely masculine these days, and the latest defrocking of the seminal Nosferatu brought back to the screen in 2023’s The Last Voyage Of The Demeter was particularly bloodless, though it didn’t need to be. What screenwriters Bragi F. Schut and Zak Olkewicz accomplished – whether intentional or not – was to present a seafaring crew – perhaps the last bastion of uber-male compatriots who considered having a woman around was a curse – that couldn’t save itself from extinction much less last to the final reel if the petite Anna (played by the fetching Aisling Franciosi) hadn’t been aboard.
Good grief …
Yes, yes, and yes: some of the readership might insist this is only because I’ve self-published my very own novel in the wide, wide world of Horror yarnspinning. But the truth is I’ve always had a fascination with monster movies – of which I think the bloodsuckers are included – chiefly because they usually don’t abide by the usual rules that make up that subculture of productions. While most beasts operate around the idea that audiences might sympathize with, this particular branch of the Undead rarely if ever gets such treatment; and it makes for some very interesting stories sometimes staked out over multiple decades. More than just pains in the neck, these Nosferatu are here to stay, and it’s to my delight.
Now, I’ll also concede that vampire stories have grown a bit – ahem – long in the tooth. Having been around for well over a century (yes, even on film!), these characters only occasionally benefit from a bit of re-invention where perhaps they’re given a new, mystical power or some scribe figures out a way to present vamps with a bit of freshness. 2023’s The Last Voyage Of The Demeter – as an example – actually went back to elements of what’s long been considered the founding text of these upir: Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” introduces some of the facts about how the illustrious Count made his way from Bulgaria to London, postulating that the merchant ship known as the Demeter met with tragedy when it was consigned to transport the immortal legend in some secrecy.
One might think that using this construct the film would’ve both paid respects to the original text while paving the way for a potential new chapter in the growing pantheon of theatrical adventures of vampires … but – as often happens – today’s political leanings pretty exsanguinated what lifeblood there was in the creative beating heart and left the prospects for a new legacy better off dead. Google.com reports that the project is considered a box office flop, crashing on the shores with less than half of its production budget recouped in ticket sales.
Sigh.
The Count deserved better. But so did we.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“A crew sailing from Varna (Bulgaria) by the Black Sea To England find that they are carrying very dangerous cargo.”
Whether one likes this or not, the original Dracula story is a decidedly and fundamentally masculine tale.
You see, the Count is a man. Abraham Van Helsing? Also a man. While Dracula and what he does – seducing others to serve both his bidding and his appetites – might be a bit open to interpretation, the reality of his maleness cannot be separated from his mythology, thus perhaps inadvertently making statements about the existing patriarchy than author Stoker never intended but stand the test of time nonetheless. In this adventure of good man chasing bad man in order to save mankind from its potential destruction, masculinity matters in more ways than a feminist might wish to admit … and removing that foundational context certainly puts any retelling at risk of being inferior and/or (gasp!) boring at the onset.
But … Hollywood and the wide expanse of the entertainment industry can’t help but pull the fangs out of anything remotely masculine these days, and the latest defrocking of the seminal Nosferatu brought back to the screen in 2023’s The Last Voyage Of The Demeter was particularly bloodless, though it didn’t need to be. What screenwriters Bragi F. Schut and Zak Olkewicz accomplished – whether intentional or not – was to present a seafaring crew – perhaps the last bastion of uber-male compatriots who considered having a woman around was a curse – that couldn’t save itself from extinction much less last to the final reel if the petite Anna (played by the fetching Aisling Franciosi) hadn’t been aboard.
Good grief …
Clemens (Corey Hawkins) isn’t your typical Englishman of the period. For starters, he’s black. He’s well-educated. Unable to find employment as a physician despite his educational pedigree, he traveled all the way to Varnan for an appointment, only to discover that racism wasn’t limited to just London, and the color of his skin left him mostly destitute. When Captain Eliot arrives in port and requires a few extra hands for the journey back to London, Clemens leaps at the chance, a development that ultimately might spell doom had he known what lay ahead on the open seas for the Demeter: its mysterious cargo is none other than Dracula himself – itself? – and the bloodsucker is going to need a meal or two that isn’t quite on the menu.
Structurally, Voyage works like any gothic mystery, at least for a time. One by one, the crew fall to whatever force is hiding in the darkest corners of their ship; but it isn’t until Clemens discovers a young woman, Anna, amongst the packages that he begins piecing together the puzzle that eludes Eliot, his first mate Wojchek (David Dastmalchian), and the other men. Up to that point, the film achieves an appreciable balance – brains is required as much as brawn in mounting the group’s defense – and, yet, the screenwriters couldn’t showing just how inept all of them are when Anna goes part-Rambo. Granted, they make modest efforts to package her heroic deeds under the perspective that ‘she just knows better’ because she grew up in a village taunted for ages by the seminal vampire; but it still gets damn goofy when only the young lady – who likely never fired a rifle – is the only one with smarts to shoot the lock of the captain’s cabin door in the midst of a crisis.
Argh. What’s a man to do?
Well, if Voyage is any indication, it’s man’s job to not only die but die without honor, as only Anna herself is afforded such distinction. Why, it’s only she who knows to go off all by her lonesome on some floating debris, infected from her bite from her immortal master, and to go up in flames with the romantic and poetic rise of the morning sun. While the men are left to bleed out in silence, Anna basks (and burns summarily) in the spotlight.
Good grief, indeed.
The Last Voyage Of The Demeter (2023) was produced by Dreamworks Pictures, Reliance Entertainment, Storyworks Productions, and a few other participating partners. The film is presently available for physical or digital purchase on a variety of platforms. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I found the sights-and-sounds to be exceptional from start-to-finish; there were a few sequences shot in dark and/or fog that left a bit to the imagination, but it wasn’t all that distracting. Also, the opening sequence – a short bit that sets the stage of the Demeter being found abandoned on the shore – is some blatantly obvious (hence, bad) CGI, and methinks audiences deserved a bit better. Lastly, as I viewed this via streaming, there were no special features under consideration.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
Though I went into The Last Voyage Of The Demeter (2023) with an open mind, I can out thinking that both director André Øvredal and his writing staff absolutely loathe the working man, emasculating each and every of their cast to the point of ridiculousness in this nearly two-hour vampire flick. What could’ve emerged as a creative reset to a cinematic Monsters universe instead becomes mired in political predictability where men just aren’t good enough any more to make a stand against the forces of darkness.
-- EZ
Structurally, Voyage works like any gothic mystery, at least for a time. One by one, the crew fall to whatever force is hiding in the darkest corners of their ship; but it isn’t until Clemens discovers a young woman, Anna, amongst the packages that he begins piecing together the puzzle that eludes Eliot, his first mate Wojchek (David Dastmalchian), and the other men. Up to that point, the film achieves an appreciable balance – brains is required as much as brawn in mounting the group’s defense – and, yet, the screenwriters couldn’t showing just how inept all of them are when Anna goes part-Rambo. Granted, they make modest efforts to package her heroic deeds under the perspective that ‘she just knows better’ because she grew up in a village taunted for ages by the seminal vampire; but it still gets damn goofy when only the young lady – who likely never fired a rifle – is the only one with smarts to shoot the lock of the captain’s cabin door in the midst of a crisis.
Argh. What’s a man to do?
Well, if Voyage is any indication, it’s man’s job to not only die but die without honor, as only Anna herself is afforded such distinction. Why, it’s only she who knows to go off all by her lonesome on some floating debris, infected from her bite from her immortal master, and to go up in flames with the romantic and poetic rise of the morning sun. While the men are left to bleed out in silence, Anna basks (and burns summarily) in the spotlight.
Good grief, indeed.
The Last Voyage Of The Demeter (2023) was produced by Dreamworks Pictures, Reliance Entertainment, Storyworks Productions, and a few other participating partners. The film is presently available for physical or digital purchase on a variety of platforms. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I found the sights-and-sounds to be exceptional from start-to-finish; there were a few sequences shot in dark and/or fog that left a bit to the imagination, but it wasn’t all that distracting. Also, the opening sequence – a short bit that sets the stage of the Demeter being found abandoned on the shore – is some blatantly obvious (hence, bad) CGI, and methinks audiences deserved a bit better. Lastly, as I viewed this via streaming, there were no special features under consideration.
Alas … only Mildly Recommended.
Though I went into The Last Voyage Of The Demeter (2023) with an open mind, I can out thinking that both director André Øvredal and his writing staff absolutely loathe the working man, emasculating each and every of their cast to the point of ridiculousness in this nearly two-hour vampire flick. What could’ve emerged as a creative reset to a cinematic Monsters universe instead becomes mired in political predictability where men just aren’t good enough any more to make a stand against the forces of darkness.
-- EZ
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