Cripes, it’s not even October, yet AMC (the American Movie Channel) has already switched over to Halloweenish movies. In the last couple of days we’ve seen Army of Darkness (Evil Dead III), Trick’r’Treat, Leprechaun, and Resident Evil: Retribution. (My problem is that our co-op’s satellite guy came today and switched AMC back to TCM, so I’ve gotta find another way to get my Halloween movie fix.) Here’s one that AMC didn’t have, because it’s new.
Abraham (Bram) Stoker’s 1897 book, Dracula, is perhaps one of the best-known fantasy books of all time. There have been countless sequels, prequels and oddquels (my phrase) written by such people as Fred Saberhagen, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Barbara Hambly; including Dracula, the Un-Dead, written by Stoker’s great-grandnephew, Dacre Stoker (and Ian Holt). Dracula the vampire—whether you consider him as a bloodthirsty monster, tragic figure, romantic figure or just a damned soul, has captured the public’s imagination and will probably continue doing so for generations more. The same goes for movies featuring this character.
The first Dracula movie was an unauthorized (plagiarized) version by director Friedrich Wilhelm (F.W.) Murnau in 1922, a silent film, called Nosferatu (a word used by Stoker, who claimed he borrowed it from Emily Gerard, a 19th-century writer and speaker, who wrote a book on Transylvanian superstitions). Murnau changed the name of the title character to Count Orlok, the name of the ship from Demeter to Vesta (which could evoke images of Vestal Virgins, or maybe matches, which were at one time called “Vestas.”). He also changed Harker’s name to Hutter, and Mina’s name to Ellen. It didn’t help—he was sued by Stoker’s widow, who won.
Back to the Demeter: Dracula, in the original book, bought Carfax Abbey through Jonathan Harker, who was sent by his real-estate company to complete the sale. Dracula, who must sleep on his native earth every day, sent his coffin and a number of boxes full of that native earth, to England (Whitby was the name of the town) on a Russian ship, called The Demeter. There was no Renfield in the book that I recall, btw, but Dwight Frye played the character in the 1931 Tod Browning movie with Bela Lugosi, which is probably the best-known of the movies based on the original book.
In book and both movies, the ship—whatever she is called—leaves its original port in Romania to come to England or Wisburg (Germany), bringing its deadly cargo; and arrives a derelict hulk with only dead people on board and a dead captain lashed to the steering wheel. (Since the cargo has paperwork attached, saying deliver to the consignee, it is delivered. Only we know what is coming to plague the port of entry.) In the book, someone claims to have seen something like a big black dog race off the ship and out of sight on shore.
This movie claims to be based on the captain’s log of the Demeter. In the book, the captain, knowing his time on the ship was coming to an end, penned some lines about what had happened to the crew, putting the note in a bottle for safekeeping. In the movie, these notes were part of the ship’s log, found on board when the Demeter grounded in the rocks near Whitby. The movie attempts to fill in what happened between leaving port and arriving in England, and quite well. In this review, I intend to be somewhat vague and not spoil the action (including not fully showing you the vampire (Figure 3); I feel there should be some surprises left even if you’ve read my review), so bear with me.
In port, the Demeter’s captain, Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham), receives a charter to deliver 50 crates of dirt for scientific experimentation to Whitby, England. He has a crew with a mate, Wojchek (David Dastmalchian), a cook , five hands, and his eight-year-old grandson, Toby (Woody Norman). He needs to acquire three hands before he leaves port, so he has Wojchek yell for experienced hands on shore. Clemens (Corey Hawkins), the only black man in the area, also responds. He says he knows his way around ship and is a doctor (a valuable asset to any sailing ship). Wojchek takes an instant dislike to him and he is not chosen. While loading the boxes of dirt, one of the new crewmen notices a dragon logo stamped on the boxes and lets go the line he is hauling, claiming that the logo is bad luck—he says he won’t sail on this ship and it’s destined for disaster. (The loosened load drops one end to the dock, almost squashing Toby, but Clemens sees his danger in time and saves Toby, thereby earning his place on board from a grateful captain. Wojchek warns Clemens that should he not know his way around a ship, Wojchek would personally throw him overboard.
Underway, Toby gloms onto Clemens as a new friend, showing him around the ship, including the cargo hold (which is separated from the rest of the ship by a sliding door (we Navy people would say “there are no doors except on staterooms; all others we call hatches”); and introduces him to the ship’s complement of livestock, which will be eaten en route to supplement the dry rations, and the ship’s dog, a likeable black mutt named Huckleberry, or Huck for short. Clemens begins settling into shipboard routines, and getting to know the crew, some of whom dislike him because he’s new, and some of whom dislike him probably because he’s black.
At one point a crate shifts and falls in the cargo hold, breaking open, and Clemens goes to investigate, finding a pile of dirt—and an unconscious young woman, whom we later find out is Anna (Aisling Franciosi). Wojchek says the custom is to throw stowaways overboard, but Clemens overrules him in his role as a doctor. She is ill running a high fever, and Clemens gives her a blood transfusion to help bring down her fever. After she recovers (Clemens continues to transfuse her—though he never seems to show weakness from losing blood), Wojchek and the crew want to throw her overboard—after all, not only is she a stowaway, but a woman on board ship is known bad luck!, but the captain intervenes. “I will not have the death of a young woman on my ship!” he declares. He tells Clemens she will share his, Clemens’s, rations, and he will be responsible for her.
Anna speaks “some English” (sounds pretty fluent to me), and we find out that in her village below the castle (guess whose castle?), the villagers have come to an agreement with the bloodsucker and regularly supply him with a girl that he can drain at his leisure; Anna was brought on board so he could continue… let’s say, “sucking up to her.” (Sorry.)
A crewman falls ill with the same symptoms as Anna had. The dog and the livestock are mysteriously slaughtered in the night. Another crewman disappears entirely. Yep, it’s begun—the reign of terror that will eventually leave a ship devoid of life (even the rats are gone). And if you watch the movie, you’ll find out exactly what has happened, and how the ship died, because I can’t go any farther without spoiling it for you. Sorry, but most people don’t like spoilers, so I try not to (unless I hate the movie, in which case, I’m happy to spoil it).
But I did not hate this film; in fact, I thought it was very well done. Doing a movie where the ending is already known is a hard task (almost as hard as watching The Sixth Sense for a second time without knowing the gimmick), and the filmmakers managed it nicely, I feel. The acting is competent, the effects work, and the storyline works (so long as you’re willing to accept a bit of deviation from Stoker’s work.) So go watch it for a nice Halloween treat. No trick.
If you’d like to comment on this column, you can do it here, on Facebook, or even by email (stevefah at hotmail dot com). I welcome all comments, even if you don’t like what I’ve said! (Just be polite, please.) My opinion is, as always, my own, and doesn’t necessarily reflect the views of Amazing Stories or its owner, editor, publisher or other columnists. See you next time!
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