The Last Voyage of the Demeter 2023 Movie Review
The Captain’s Log has always been my favorite chapter from Bram Stoker’s 1897 masterpiece Dracula, and I’m glad that this very terrifying segment of the novel has finally gotten its moment on the big screen.
As other reviews have stated, watching this film will likely bring back memories of Alien, The Thing or Predator, but I found that The Last Voyage of The Demeter has a certain human element to it and a sense chemistry between the various protagonists of the film that sets it apart from the aforementioned movies.
The script, co-written by Zak Olkewicz, son of Walter Olkewicz who portrayed drug-runner/bartender Jacques Renault in the television series Twin Peaks, and Bragi Schut Jr., writer of last year’s Samaritan starring Sylvester Stallone, defines its key players well, and each character is unique and memorable in their own right, which further adds to the group dynamic that exists between the film’s main protagonists.
Most characters in the film have their own backstory and distinctive personality, which allows audiences to love (or hate) each of them in a different way, which made it all the more difficult for me to witness the death scenes of certain characters. This expansion and humanization of character story arcs that were not present in Stoker’s original novel adds further depth and complexity to the Dracula mythos, and complements the novel (and also Copolla’s 1992 film adaptation of it) quite well. The pacing of the film is exceptional, and its build-up of suspense rivals that of the greatest of horror films, Alien and Predator included.
The special effects are very well done as well, especially those of the monster himself and the combustion scenes. I could go on and on all day about all the great points of this film, but that’s all I’ll say about Last Voyage of The Demeter, as words alone cannot do it justice. Thanks for reading.
