The Norwegian director Andre Øvredal Controls Demeter’s last journey a new revision of Dracula myth.
The film adapted one of the chapters of the Bram Stoker’s famous novel where we learn about the vampire’s journey from Carpathia to London, through the logbook of a sailing ship.
The film was released in mid-August in the United States, earning both positive and negative reviews, although its low gross made it so. a failure at the box office.
Demeter will arrive in Spanish ports on September 22.
Synopsis of The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Taking as a reference one of the chapters of Bram Stoker’s famous novel Dracula, Øvredal directs this story of a Russian ship that has to carry a series of containers from Romania to England. Once on the high seas, the most famous bloodsucker ends the life of the crew.
Review of The Last Voyage of Demeter
The project to adapt a roughly sixteen-page chapter of Bram Stoker’s novel entitled The captain’s journal (The captain’s Log), hanging out with various production companies for over twenty years. Seeing the result as irregular and inconsistent, we are not surprised. Especially since everything that happened to Demeter is known to faithful followers of the Romanian vampire or the work of the Irish writer.
The difficulties of adaptation
There are two factors that, a priori, work against this adaptation. First of all, the decision to convert it to a terror movie.
One of the most effective aspects of monster subgenre It is the uncertainty of not knowing exactly what we are dealing with. In fact, many of these products began to lose interest when the creature’s appearance or motivations were revealed.
on Demeter’s last journey We know the character well, his motives, his way of acting and countless details about his origin. This plays perfectly against the tension of the narrative.
The second factor has to do with the format and length of the source material. Sixteen pages written as a diary seem insufficient to make a film almost two hours long. In fact, Stoker’s work served as inspiration for screenwriters. Bragi Schut Jr. y Zak Olkewicz to develop your own imagination about this deadly sea voyage.
Although the film has some great moments, it fails to maintain its momentum throughout the film.
Large management spaces
The best of Demeter’s last journey This is, without a doubt, the use of spaces. We really enjoyed the first act, where the ship is getting ready for sailing. Øvredal takes us by the hand through the various parts of the boat, presenting a unique exercise in style and direction.
The visual section and the ability of the Norwegian filmmaker, together with the director of photography Tom Stern, to create a claustrophobic but beautiful atmosphere especially shine. A quality we have already seen in his previous, and highly underrated, film Scary stories to tell in the dark (2019) where, like this one, it also faces a very complex adaptation.
The creature
Javier Botet is not short of work. After the release at the end of summer The bogeyman (Angel Gómez Hernández), where he gave life to a creature that feeds on the guilt of the little ones, once again putting himself behind the mask of a new creature.
No one can argue with his incarnation of Dracula. The actor endured a four-hour makeup session to embody the famous Dracula. However, the change from prosthetics to CGI in the creature is more noticeable. An excellent job from the art department that emphasized, a little, the digital side of it.
The design has yet to convince us. Despite trying to give him a bat-like appearance, the figure ends up looking more like a bat. some of the orcs The Lord of the rings.
Our final review of The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Despite the outstanding production design, excellent spatial management and excellent direction by André Øvredal, Demeter’s last journey it doesn’t stop working.
This adaptation of Bram Stoker’s work is slow on the narrative side and, although it has very interesting moments of tension, the viewer’s familiarity with what is being said affects their interest in what happens on screen.
Demeter’s last journey It is as visually appealing as it is easily overlooked.
