In theaters since Wednesday, “The Last Voyage of Demeter” tackles the myth of Dracula by adapting a passage from Bram Stoker’s novel. Chill lovers, come aboard the Demeter!
What is it about ? A chilling chapter of Bram Stoker’s fantasy classic Dracula, THE DEMETER’S LAST VOYAGE chronicles the tragic fate of a merchant ship, the Demeter, chartered to transport a private cargo of 50 wooden crates from the Carpathian Mountains to London. . Overwhelmed by strange events, the crew of the Demeter attempt to fend off a ruthless presence that assails them every night. When the ship finally reaches the English coast, it is nothing more than a dilapidated and charred wreck, without a single survivor on board.
A particular episode of Bram Stoker’s Dracula
If Dracula has been adapted many times for the cinema, it is the first time that a film has looked precisely at the transport of the vampire from his native land, the Carpathians, to England. The count boards the Demeter, a ship on which he has loaded a dozen wooden boxes filled with black earth, including one in which he hides.
It is in chapter VII of the famous novel by Bram Stoker that the last crossing of the Demeter is mentioned, in an extract from the English daily Dailygraph dated August 8, 1897. The article describes a violent storm which suddenly rose near Whitby, a small English coastal town, stranding the wreck of the Demeter on which we find the body of a single man , attached to the bar. In a series of short entries, the logbook recounts the 4-week voyage, from July 6 to August 4, during which strange events seem to have overwhelmed the ship and her crew.
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Alien on the ocean
Reading the screenplay, written by Bragi Schut and Zak Olkewicz, based on an idea from the former, André Øvredal found similarities to Ridley Scott’s cult film, Alien: an intense horror film, with a crew whose members come essentially from the proletariat, having to face an unknown and implacable adversary. “For me, it was clearly a version of Alien set on the ocean in 1897, with Dracula as an extraterrestrial entity”he confides.
For producer Mike Medavoy, the parallel with Alien is not anecdotal: “During my years at United Artists, I rubbed shoulders Walter Hill who was then working on the original screenplay of Alien, and this concept of behind closed doors, without the possibility of fleeing, struck me. In Demeter, a demon is transported to London where he intends to start a new life. And as for Alien, the heart of the film is what will happen on this ship. »
2023 Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.
A long-standing project
For producers Bradley J. Fischer, Mike Medavoy and Arnold W. Messer, adapt a specific passage from Dracula by Bram Stocker allows us to approach the myth of the vampire from a new angle. But it took them a lot of patience to bring this project to fruition, which germinated in the screenwriter’s head nearly two decades earlier. Many directors have succeeded: David Slade, Neil Marshall, then Guillermo del Toro, who had to give up for a question of schedule.
He suggested Norwegian filmmaker André Øvredal, whose horror feature Scary Stories he had produced, to the producers. Øvredal admits to being intimidated by the task: “I felt like I had to put on shoes that were way too big for me. It meant competing against masterpieces such as Nosferatu Or Dracula. We had to aim very high. Our intention was never to make a big, epic, authoritative film. We wanted to make a strong and commendable horror film. »
2023 Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.
A monster regular
In the role of Dracula, we find the Spanish actor Javier Botet, who is used to monster roles. We have seen him in the skin of frightening creatures in [REC]Mama, The Witches of Zugarramurdi, Crimson Peak, Slender Man or even Scary Stories, directed by André Øvredal.
Suffering from a disease called Marfan Syndrome, which is characterized in particular by hyperlaxity (excessive elasticity of the peri-articular tissues), Javier Botet is two meters tall and has particularly long and thin fingers, arms and legs.
The Creation of Dracula
The production brought in special make-up manager Göran Lundström, who won two Oscars for his work on Border and House of Gucci. The team sought to capture on screen the horrifying description of Dracula as depicted in the script: a nightmarish face, a bone-white body, razor-sharp teeth, and wings that spread wide. If digital effects were of course used, the team was very attached to the use of traditional special effects, with prostheses and make-up.
The creature appears at five stages of its physical evolution which Göran Lundström named:
- Emaciated and hungry Nosferatu
- the skeletal werewolf
- Nosferatu man
- Nosferatu bat
- Dracula fully sated, the stage at which he can blend into the human mass.
Stages 1 and 4 were largely inspired by the appearance of Count Orlok, played by Max Schreck, in Nosferatu. Javier Botet shaved his head for the role. His preparation required 3 to 5 hours of work: silicone prostheses were first fixed on his head, then he had to slip into a latex suit.
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