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Marcus Nispel Helming The Last Voyage of Demeter Next

by Alex Billington
May 1, 2009

Although all three of films have either been flops or overly criticized remakes, Marcus Nispel is actually a pretty damn good director, with a great visual style at least. Nispel finished up Friday the 13th earlier this year and is now attached (via Variety) to direct The Last Voyage of Demeter, a project being developed by Phoenix Pictures and BenderSpink. The story is based on a chapter in Bram Stoker's "Dracula" describing the arrival of the vampire count in England by way of a cargo ship that has crashed into the rocks at Whitby with no crew and the dead captain lashed to the steering wheel. Sound like an interesting story to you?

"It was no wonder that the coastguard was surprised, or even awed, for not often can such a sight have been seen. The man was simply fastened by his hands, tied one over the other, to a spoke of the wheel. Between the inner hand and the wood was a crucifix, the set of beads on which it was fastened being around both wrists and wheel, and all kept fast by the binding cords. The poor fellow may have been seated at one time, but the flapping and buffeting of the sails had worked through the rudder of the wheel and had dragged him to and fro, so that the cords with which he was tied had cut the flesh to the bone."

The screenplay was written by Bragi Schut Jr., who also wrote the in-production Season of the Witch. The producers are hoping to begin production later this year. Although The Last Voyage of Demeter simply sounds like a fascinating story that reminds me of something like H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness (in a personal way, as they're not at all directly comparable), it's being pitched as horror more than thriller or a dark drama. Although Nispel is by no means the most talented horror director around, I'm considerably excited to see him take on this project, largely because he has such a great visual style.

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mos

i dont know how this is gonna work. that part of the book doesnt last very long
http://lamaracayeltacon.com Abraham Morales

OK, maybe you don't know but there's a wonderful novel called "La ruta del hielo y la sal" by mexican writer José Luis Zárate. This was published in 1998 and tells the last voyage of the Demeter in a fantastic way. Is this another one of those "coincidences" like Harry Potter and The books of magik?
quique ortega

It is in fact a short passage in the novel, but that doesn't mean that a very good movie can be made from it. Just remember the short tale -from Francis Scott Fitzgerald- in wich The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is based on and the cuestion remains on the right development of the screenplay from that anecdotic moment in the book to a interesting and more complex history on cinema.
JM

If they do this right, and build up on the tension (like they do in most j-horror films, and in lovecraft stories) and don't go too crazy on the running time, it might just work.
http://www.videoregister.de morecomp

I like his style and mybe he will make a good vampire movie, why not? The most Lovecraft movies are bullshit and who knows, it could be the time for a good one.