The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)
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A doomed merchant ship voyage from Transylvania to London turns into a nightmare as the crew is stalked by a legendary vampire.
The story
In 1897, the merchant ship Demeter sets sail from Varna, Bulgaria, bound for London with a mysterious cargo of large wooden crates. Among the crew is Clemens, a doctor who joins the voyage to provide medical expertise. Shortly after departure, the crew discovers a woman, Anna, hidden inside one of the crates. As the ship traverses the Aegean Sea, a series of terrifying events occur: animals are found dead, and a humanoid creature begins picking off the crew members. Anna warns the survivors that they are being stalked by a monster from Transylvania known as Dracula, who feeds on human blood.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In August 1897, the merchant ship Demeter departs Varna, Bulgaria, carrying crates bound for London. A doctor named Clemens joins the crew and soon discovers a woman named Anna hidden in a crate. Anna reveals she is a 'slave of blood' to the vampire Dracula and warns the crew of his presence. The voyage quickly turns into a massacre as a humanoid creature kills crew members and turns Olgaren into a vampiric thrall. Dracula eventually kills several crew members, including Abrams and Wojchek, and bites the captain's grandson, Toby. After Toby dies and is briefly resurrected as a vampire before immolating, the remaining crew attempts to destroy the ship to stop Dracula. During the struggle, Clemens rescues Anna by hitting Dracula with an axe, and she manages to crush him with a part of the mast. The ship runs aground, and Anna reveals she is becoming a vampire. She chooses to self-immolate in the sunrise as Clemens drifts ashore. In London, Clemens draws Anna's portrait and encounters a disguised Dracula, vowing to hunt the vampire down.
- First release year
- 2023
- Runtime (minutes)
- 119
- Production countries
- United States; Germany
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- André Øvredal
- Writers
- Bragi F. Schut Jr. · screenplay; Zak Olkewicz · screenplay; Bragi F. Schut Jr. · story
- Cast and characters
- Corey Hawkins · Clemens; Aisling Franciosi · Anna; Liam Cunningham · Captain Eliot; David Dastmalchian · Wojchek; Javier Botet · Dracula; Woody Norman · Toby; Jon Jon Briones · Joseph; Stefan Kapičić · Olgaren
- Genres
- supernatural horror; adventure horror; American gothic horror; science fiction horror; science fantasy
- Themes
- survival; sacrifice; monstrosity
- Tone and mood
- ominous; dreadful; savage
- Premise and plot tags
- vampire; shipwreck; period piece; horror
- Source material / true-story basis
- "The Captain's Log", a chapter from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker
- Franchise connections
- Dracula
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office bomb, grossing $22 million against a budget of $45 million.
- Reported review scores
- CinemaScore · score: B– · scale: A+ to F; PostTrak · score: 66% · scale: percentage
- Production trivia
- Thomas Newman was originally hired to compose the film's score but was replaced by Bear McCreary.; The practical makeup effects team collaborated little with the post-production team responsible for creating the film's computer-generated imagery (CGI) effects.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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