So far as “hooks” go when pitching a horror script, you possibly can’t go mistaken discovering a approach to dump a number of characters in a single location, introduce some nefarious risk that they are bodily unable to flee from, and maintain discovering attention-grabbing methods to drive up the strain and absolutely exploit the scare issue. Except for the apparent drama inherent in such a premise, the perfect a part of this method is that it permits totally different filmmakers to place their very own distinctive spin on this time-honored setup. “The Final Voyage of the Demeter” advantages from the ready-made potential of Bram Stoker’s unique “Dracula” novel, which featured a brief chapter chronicling Dracula’s journey to Europe aboard a ship. Taking that primary basis and working with it, André Øvredal crammed within the gaps and combined the epic, sweeping tone of “Grasp & Commander” with the sense of dread and rising rigidity from “The Factor,” and the atmospheric doom hanging heavy over “Alien.”
Whereas comparatively restrained, small-scale films like “Demeter” really feel like extra of an outlier with every passing 12 months, latest historical past offers us quite a few examples that additional confirmed the enchantment of those one-location horror flicks. Dan Trachtenberg’s “10 Cloverfield Lane” is perhaps the epitome of this subgenre, wringing each attainable ounce of battle and stakes out of a doomsday bunker that will or might not be defending the three characters inside from an apocalypse. Jordan Peele took this even additional with “Get Out,” trapping its protagonist within the worst place conceivable: An prosperous white household’s house. Hell, the complete historical past of haunted home tales intuitively understands why audiences maintain getting drawn again to this setup.
“Demeter” injected new life (in a way of talking) into the most effective weapons within the horror toolbox. It ought to solely be the beginning.