A new horror film about Dracula’s journey to London is being praised by horror masters Stephen King and Guillermo del Toro.
Countless directors and writers have shared their interpretations of the legendary character over the years, from Francis Ford Coppola with Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1992 to Mark Gatiss and Stephen Moffat with their 2020 BBC series.
Fans of the vampire myth will be excited to learn that the film, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, is a adaptation of the seventh chapter of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, titled “Captain’s Log”. It chronicles the fate of the doomed merchant ship the Demeter, on its voyage from the Black Sea port of Varna to Whitby, England.
Directed by André Øvredal,The Last Voyage of.the Demeter stars Liam Cunningham, Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi and Oppenheimer actor David Dastmalchian.
Javier Botet joins the ranks of actors to have played Dracula alongside Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Gary Oldman and, more recently, Claes Bang.
Reviews of the film are now sailing in. Sharing his verdict, Stephen King, the man behind classics including It, The Shining and Carrie, wrote: “I was doubtful about THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER, but it’s a throat-ripping good time. It reminded me of the best of the Hammer movies from the Sixties and Seventies.”
Guillermo del Toro, whose credits include Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, wrote: “I enjoyed Last Voyage of the Demeter so much: gorgeous, lavish and savage!!”
Despite this praise, the film has a 38 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes after 72 reviews.
Writing for The Wrap, Kristen Lopez said: There’s just nothing about this interpretation of the character that makes him stand out as Count Dracula versus just another standard vampire.”
‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’— (Universal Pictures)
New York Post's Johnny Oleksinski said: Bram Stoker wrote Dracula 126 years ago — somehow, Hollywood is still screwing it up.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter is out now in the US. There is currently no UK release date.
