Last Voyage of the Demeter, The (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Feb 10, 2025
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
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Director
André ØvredalRelease Date(s)
2023 (February 11, 2024)Studio(s)
Universal Pictures (Shout! Studios/Scream Factory)- Film/Program Grade: B
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: B+
Review
Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula has had an unusual journey as a source for cinematic adaptations. While any well-known story will eventually spawn alternative and even radically transformative takes on the material, Dracula actually began its century-long cinematic sojourn in the same way. F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu was the first, and since it was an unauthorized adaptation, it altered many important details from the book and changed all of the character names. (It also introduced the idea that vampires are completely destroyed by sunlight, a notion that didn’t come from Stoker.) The first “official” adaptation came nine years later in the form of Tod Browning’s Dracula, yet that wasn’t even based on Stoker’s book, but rather on the stage play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston. The characters may have had the correct names this time around (for the most part, anyway), but their relationships were still altered. That would become a running theme for decades to come, with most adaptations being rather loose ones. When Francis Ford Coppola assayed the book in his ironically titled Bram Stoker’s Dracula, it may have finally preserved the correct character names and relationships, and even Stoker’s journal structure, but it still fundamentally altered the core of Stoker’s story by turning Dracula into a tragic romantic figure (something that it borrowed from multiple previous loose adaptations).
So, for a book that has been defined cinematically not so much for fidelity to the source material, but rather by straying from it, spinning an entire side story out of a portion of a single chapter seems perfectly natural. That’s exactly what we have with The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Chapter VII of Dracula opens with the wreck of the Russian ship Demeter near the Tate Hill Pier of Whitby, England. There were no survivors, other than a dog that escaped the wreckage and disappeared, and the cargo consisted of nothing but silver sand and mysterious boxes of mouldy earth. The captain’s corpse was found lashed to the ship’s wheel, and his log provided sparse details about their terrifying voyage from Varna to Whitby. The unnamed correspondent who analyzed the captain’s log ultimately declared the disaster to be just one more “mystery of the sea.”
Of course, it’s not much of a mystery for readers of the book, since the Demeter was unknowingly transporting Dracula to England, with the boxes of earth serving as his resting places, and the crew of the ship offering a source of food. Yet for Stoker, it’s just a parenthetical passage—an elliptical way of treating how Dracula got from point A to point B. Turning all of that into a standalone story faces the inevitable challenge of making the journey interesting when the final destination is already known. It’s not exactly a spoiler to say that the crew will end up dead, most of them at Dracula’s hand. Plus, the setting is a naturally confined one that doesn’t offer much chance for variety. Given those limitations, the solution was to treat the story like Alien, or more precisely like one of Alien’s chief inspirations: Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None (aka Ten Little Indians, as well as the unprintable original title). It’s not so much a question of what’s ultimately going to happen in The Last Voyage of the Demeter as it is of how the story is going to get there.
Naturally, the journey to show that journey wasn’t a simple one, either. The Last Voyage of the Demeter was in development for more than two decades, and it passed through the hands of multiple writers and directors during that process. The final shooting script was by Zak Olkewicz, based on the original screenplay by Bragi Schut Jr. and incorporated elements from the various drafts in between the two. While there aren’t necessarily any real surprises in the results, it’s still best to experience everything as cold as possible, so I’m not going to describe any details about the story in the film or even any of the characters. The cast includes Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian, Javier Botet, and Woody Norman, among others, but you’re better off discovering the roles that they play for yourselves.
Yet the fact that The Last Voyage of the Demeter works at all is thanks in no small part to director André Øvredal. Øvredal had already proved his chops at handling confined settings with The Autopsy of Jane Doe, and while that film had the advantage of a story without a defined endpoint, Øvredal was still able to offer a similarly oppressive flavor in The Last Voyage of the Demeter. That’s probably the one lesson that he learned from Alien more than any other: it’s all about the atmosphere, not necessarily the specific details about the plot or even the characters. A driving sense of mystery may have helped to carry The Autopsy of Jane Doe, but even with the disadvantage of a clearly defined endpoint in The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Øvredal was still able to deliver the atmosphere in spades.
Perhaps even more importantly, he delivered a properly monstrous version of Dracula, stripping away the faux romanticism of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and myriad other cinematic adaptations. This version of Dracula hasn’t crossed oceans of time in order to find true love; instead, he’s crossed the Atlantic Ocean in search of a midnight snack. The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a real horror movie, not a Gothic romance, so it needed a suitably horrific Dracula. That shouldn’t really feel transformative, but given the way that Stoker’s novel has been treated in the past, it still does. For that reason alone, The Last Voyage of the Demeter deserves a high place in the pantheon of cinematic adaptions of Dracula.
Cinematographer Tom Stern captured The Last Voyage of the Demeter digitally using Sony Venice cameras with Arri Signature Prime lenses. While there’s no information available regarding the capture resolutions that he used or the resolution of the final Digital Intermediate, it does appear to have been completed as a full 4K DI, framed at 2.39:1. This version has been graded for High Dynamic Range in both Dolby Vision and HDR10. While there are clear benefits from the upgrade to 4K, with the textures looking noticeably more refined and detailed than they do on Blu-ray, the real advantage to this release comes from HDR. The Last Voyage of the Demeter is an overwhelmingly dark film, with its few daylight scenes providing only brief respite from the oppressive nature of the darkness that it displays. That darkness is significantly better resolved in HDR than it was in SDR, with less black crush, and the expanded contrast range of HDR really helps. Yet that’s not all, because Stern and Øvredal resisted the temptation to desaturate the image like so many other period films do these days. The colors are richly saturated in The Last Voyage of the Demeter, with the warm glow of the flames and the lanterns really standing out. This is no mere incremental upgrade over Blu-ray, but a rather substantial one instead.
Audio is offered in English Dolby Atmos, plus 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, with optional English SDH subtitles. The expansiveness of the Atmos mix announces itself right from the opening title cards, with the wild storm effects like wind, thunder, and rain surrounding the viewer. Unsurprisingly, once the story gets on board the Demeter, then the creaks and groans of the ship offer a similar experience. The soundstage is consistently immersive, the bass extension is genuinely deep when appropriate, and Bear McCreary’s score really sings. Sailing ships offer a natural showcase for the full capabilities of multichannel sound, and this Atmos mix is no exception. (While the original 5.1 audio for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is reference quality in its own right, it will be interesting to hear an Atmos remix if it’s offered on an eventual 4K release of the film.)
Shout! Factory’s Collector’s Edition 4K Ultra HD release of The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a two-disc set that includes a Blu-ray with a 1080p copy of the film. There’s also a slipcover that duplicates the theatrical poster artwork on the insert. Of course, Shout! Factory being Shout! Factory, that’s not necessarily everything. Depending on which version that you order, there’s also an extra slipcover featuring new artwork by Joanna Barnum, and separate posters for the theatrical artwork and the new Barnum artwork. Regardless, the disc-based content is the same, and the following extras are included (all of them in HD):
DISC ONE: UHD
- Audio Commentary with David Dastmalchian
- Audio Commentary with Meagan Navarro
- Audio Commentary with André Øvredal and Bradley J. Fischer
DISC TWO: BD
- Audio Commentary with David Dastmalchian
- Audio Commentary with Meagan Navarro
- Audio Commentary with André Øvredal and Bradley J. Fischer
- Dr. Karen Stollznow: A History of Vampires and The Last Voyage of the Demeter (18:13)
- Alternate Opening (2:24)
- Deleted Scenes: (11:45, 8 in all)
- Clemens Picking up a Stone in Varna
- Bosphorus and Constantinople
- Clemens Following Huck’s Blood Trail
- Clemens and Anna Talk on Deck
- Crew Discuss Where the Beast Is Hiding
- Finding the Corpses in the Crate
- Wojcheck Finds the Captain
- Clemens Visits His Father’s Grave
- From the Pits of Hell: Dracula Reimagined (7:11)
- Evil Is Aboard: The Making of The Last Voyage of the Demeter (10:44)
- Dracula and The Digital Age (8:34)
The commentary featuring André Øvredal and producer Bradley J. Fischer is ported over from Universal’s 2023 Blu-ray release of The Last Voyage of the Demeter. It’s a relaxed but fascinating track, with the two of them discussing the 21-year process of bringing the story to the screen, and the way that it evolved over that time. They also provide plenty of practical information about making the film, like identifying which elements were practical and which ones were digital (and they’re not afraid to acknowledge all of the CGI, which is refreshing these days). They offer their thoughts about the cast, with Øvredal noting that they all had very different styles, and it was interesting to see how they all came together in the final film. They also talk about shooting in Malta and in Berlin, and also the impact that COVID-19 had on the production. While there are some lengthy gaps here and there, it’s a solid commentary that’s well worth a listen for fans of the film.
Shout! has added two new commentaries for this release. The first features David Dastmalchian in a relatively rare solo actor commentary, and it doesn’t take long to remember why they’re so uncommon. It doesn’t start out well, with him describing the opening logos and even reading the opening text cards (or trying to, anyway). From there, he rambles at length about the cast, offers an occasional tidbit about the making of the film, and frequently returns to narrating and/or describing what’s happening (and he lapses into lengthy silences, too). I really like Dastmalchian, so it feels kind of churlish to say all of that, but unless you’re a hardcore fan, you can safely skip this one.
The second new commentary, featuring film journalist Meagan Navarro, doesn’t start out promisingly either, since she opens by warning that she’s going to be giving spoilers for those who haven’t seen the film yet. (Seriously, folks: can we just let this, the hoariest of all commentary clichés, fade into the sunset once and for all? No one listens to a commentary track unless they’re already familiar with the film.) With that out of the way, however, she turns to more practical information, like the lengthy history of the project, how the film deals with the foregone conclusion of the story, and analyzing the narrative itself. She also spends some time delving into the way that The Last Voyage of the Demeter expands on Stoker, noting (accurately) that it’s not really an adaptation of Chapter 7 of Stoker’s novel, but rather an adaptation of a passage from Chapter 7. It’s a definite step up over Dastmalchian, but regardless, you’re better off starting with Øvredal and Fischer.
Shout! has also added one new interview for this release: A History of Vampires and The Last Voyage of the Demeter. It features linguist Dr. Karen Stollznow, author of Would You Believe It?: Mysterious Tales From People You’d Least Expect, and co-host of the Monstertalk podcast. She explores the history of the vampire myth, including the historical antecedents that inspired Bram Stoker like Vlad the Impaler and the 1885 wreck of the Russian cargo ship Dmitry. That leads to a discussion of the way that The Last Voyage of the Demeter expands on Stoker, and how it embraces the monstrous side of vampirism while eliminating the romantic elements that have been added to so many other adaptations.
The rest of the extras are all ported over from the Universal Blu-ray. The Alternate Opening can be played with or without optional commentary by Øvredal and Fischer (they also mention the evolution of the opening sequence in their main commentary track). While it contains unfinished temp effects, it’s still interesting to compare the differences between the two. This version contains a couple of elements that are closer to what Stoker described in his novel, but on the other hand, one of them would have acted as a spoiler for anyone unfamiliar with the story.
The Deleted Scenes can also be played with or without optional commentary by Øvredal and Fischer. (Note that while they’re listed separately above, there’s no way to play them individually.) Once again, they contain unfinished temp effects, but they do show how the editorial process shapes a film. Most of them are standalone scenes that provide extra character beats, although there’s a single thread running through a few of them that ended up being completely eliminated from the final cut (and it probably would have been a bit confusing anyway).
The rest of the extras are essentially EPK featurettes that include interviews with Øvredal, Fischer, David Dastmalchian, Liam Cunningham, Corey Hawkins, producer Mike Medavoy, visual effects supervisor Brad Parker, makeup artist Göran Lundström, suit performer Javier Botet, and stunt coordinator Casey O’Neill, plus a few other members of the cast and crew. From the Pits of Hell: Dracula Reimagined focuses on the film’s conception of Dracula, and shows how they made him more monstrous than in previous adaptations. While everything was sweetened digitally in post, it’s amazing how much they were able to do on set thanks to the quality makeup and Botet’s astonishing physicality. (For those who don’t recognize his name, he’s the one who portrayed the impossibly lanky monstrosity in the first two REC films.) Evil Is Aboard: The Making of The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a more generalized look at the production of the film, showing off the sets and the locations, including the 180ft long Demeter mockup in its tank. It also offers a broader look at the makeup and other practical effects in the film like the tank effects. Finally, Dracula and the Digital Age explores the voluminous visual effects in The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Thankfully, it’s not shy about showing exactly what was real and what was digital in the final film—Brad Parker does give full credit to the practical work on set that gave him good reference material to work with, but he’s not shy about showing everything that was extended, modified, or completely altered in post.
While your mileage may vary on some of the commentary tracks, the new interview with Dr. Karen Stollznow is interesting, and more importantly, Shout! Factory’s 4K presentation of The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a significant upgrade over Universal’s previous Blu-ray version. It’s a no-brainer for fans of the film, and the best point of entry for anyone who hasn’t given it a chance yet. (Fans of tragically romantic Draculas need not apply.)
-Stephen Bjork
(You can follow Stephen on social media at these links: Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, and Letterboxd).