Demeter: Director Unknown, but the Creature Design is WILD!

Okay, so I just got back from seeing The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Look, I'm a filmography kinda guy, so not knowing who directed this going in gave me the jitters. Turns out it was André Øvredal (Troll Hunter, Mortal), and honestly, while it's no Troll Hunter, it's a decent addition to his filmography, even if the directing itself isn't super distinctive. But the real star here is the creature design. Seriously, Dracula in this is terrifying! Like, really terrifying. They went full-on monstrous, and it works SO well. Think less Bela Lugosi, more… oh, I don’t know, some kind of bat-demon lovechild cooked up by Guillermo del Toro. Liam Cunningham is always a win in my book, and he does a solid job as the captain, but Corey Hawkins as Clemens really carried the emotional weight. The scene where he's trying to save the little boy? Heartbreaking! It's a pretty claustrophobic film, which I appreciated. You really felt trapped on that ship with the creature. And the suspense was genuinely good in parts. Some of the jump scares felt cheap, admittedly, but overall, the atmosphere was thick with dread. The ending... well, let's just say it's open-ended enough to suggest a sequel, but I'm not sure if that's a good thing? The narrative is fairly straightforward, and I'm not entirely sure what I'd want to see in a follow up. Overall, a solid horror flick that deserves a watch for the creature design alone. Just don't go in expecting a deeply nuanced character study, it's all about the monster mayhem. I'd give it a solid 7/10. What did everyone else think?