Courtesy Universal
There are only two justifiable reasons in a film world so prone to IP cannibalization for re-adapting a -novel that’s already been transformed for the screen: to correct a wrong or to take an entirely new adaptation approach. When the source material in question is Dracula, the stakes (oh, no) are even higher/pointier—whether you tend more towards Nosferatu or fall squarely in the Francis Ford Coppola camp, it’s already undeniably been done well. Last Voyage of the Demeter isn’t even the only such spinoff released by its studio this year (Universal was also responsible for this spring’s Renfield). But while there are certainly versions of this narrative with more bite, the latest Stoker extrapolation does, at least, manage to justify its existence. And that may be all it really sets out—or needs—to do.
Demeter takes a single episode from the original Bram Stoker novel—the “Captain’s Log” section of chapter 7—and stretches the story of a ship unknowingly transporting Dracula from Bulgaria to England into a full feature. Working with such a small bit of text proves to be both the film’s downfall and its saving grace, as screenwriters Bragi Schut Jr. and Zak Olkewicz are left to supply all the new muscle for Stoker’s skeleton (the log from the book reads as little more than bullet points on the page). The pair rely on bloodless genre tropes and dialogue formulas to fill in the gaps, leaving few true surprises for the viewer.
Still, by homing in on such a brief segment, Demeter avoids the cramped feeling that curses most full novel adaptations—leaving more room for the slow, moody atmosphere that makes the original tale so potent. When the animals in the cargo hold meet a bloody end below or when the ever-chittering rats abandon ship in hope of greater safety at sea, the gothic undertones of infection and plague so crucial to the novel crystalize more clearly than in wider-ranging adaptations.
It’s no surprise, then, that goth king Guillermo del Toro was once attached to direct; the practical construction of the vampire would make that creature master proud. As it stands under André Øvredal’s (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark) direction, Demeter delivers an enjoyably bloody popcorn flick. But we can’t help wondering what additional complexity a director like del Toro might have sucked from the source.
6
+Honed-in adaptation approach; Alien, but make it 1890s
-Anemically formulaic
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Directed by Øvredal
With Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham and David Dastmalchian
Violet Crown, R, 119 min.
