(Updated 08/02/2023)
Dracula leapt back onto the big screen with RENFIELD, but that's not the bloodsucker's only foray on film this year. THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER is a far more horrific tale of vampirism — in fact, it looks more like a proper update on the classic Universal Monster formula than we've seen in some time.
THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER is rooted in part of Bram Stoker's original "Dracula" novel. Specifically, it's the bit where a mysterious ship, the Demeter, docks in a British seaside town, seemingly with no crew aboard. The movie, clearly, is set aboard that ship, and the first trailer makes it look like a bloody and shadowy mash-up of ALIEN and the Dracula story.
When Does The Last Voyage of the Demeter Come Out?
THE LAST VOYAGE OF DEMETER, opening on August 11.
Watch The Last Voyage of the Demeter Trailer
That's a monster movie! So many of the filmmakers who have tackled Dracula have leaned into the seductive side of the character. It's easy to see why; that's rich metaphorical soil to play in. But there's also the purely monstrous side — the deathless creature who has to carry his own dirt around to sleep in.
This trailer isn't shy about calling back to ALIEN. There's the ship, the crew, and the monster. It's such a basic setup that it's almost elemental, and it's a great way to do a new Dracula movie.
The Story in The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Need to know more about the story? The beautiful thing here is that there's not much to outline. The studio says, "Based on a single chilling chapter from Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula, THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER tells the terrifying story of the merchant ship Demeter, which was chartered to carry private cargo—fifty unmarked wooden crates—from Carpathia to London. Strange events befall the doomed crew as they attempt to survive the ocean voyage, stalked each night by a merciless presence onboard the ship. When the Demeter finally arrives off the shores of England, it is a charred, derelict wreck. There is no trace of the crew."
The bookended version of this story has been seen in several big-screen Dracula adaptations. We usually see a ship at sea, and we see the landing in England, and nothing else of the voyage. The two versions of NOSFERATU — the silent 1922 original and Werner Herzog's 1979 remake — go into a bit more detail while still keeping the sequence as a small part of a much larger story. It's a familiar-enough part of the story and yet a framework which offers a lot of room to explore the character's most horrific side.
Who Plays Dracula in The Last Voyage of the Demeter?
This Dracula is played by one of the scariest actors of the modern era. That's Javier Botet, the slender guy who has freaked out audiences with roles in IT, THE CONJURING 2, MAMA, and THE SLENDER MAN.
Having a real actor in makeup as Dracula, even though he barely looks human, gives THE LAST VOYAGE OF DEMETER an edge it wouldn't have with an all-CG monster.
The Cast and Crew of The Last Voyage of the Demeter
In addition to Botet, the cast features Corey Hawkins (STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON) as the ship's new doctor, Clemens, and Aisling Franciosi ("Game of Thrones") as a stowaway. Additionally, Liam Cunningham ("Game of Thrones") plays the ship’s captain,and0 David Dastmalchian (DUNE) as Captain's first mate.
There's also Jon Jon Briones ("Ratched"), Stefan Kapicic (DEADPOOL), and Nikolai Nikolaeff ("Stranger Things").
THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER opens on August 11.
All images courtesy of Universal Pictures.