Get 50% off your first order of CookUnity meals - go to cookunity.com/dead50 and use my code DEAD50 at checkout to try them out for yourself! Thanks to CookUnity for sponsoring this video!

Lucy slowly opening the door in the background is the best horror movie of 2024 so far.

I think something that this movie really wanted to highlight, which I also think people have a hard time wrapping their heads around sometimes due to other iconic portrayals, was the actual nature of Dracula's character. He isn't a man who can transform into a monster. He's a monster pretending to be a man. So, in an environment where he doesn't need to pretend anymore cause the only goal is to kill, we're gonna get a wildly different side of him shown. Just the monster.

I really enjoyed the take on Dracula in this as a feral, hungry beast. I love Anna's description of him as a demon that disguises as a man. Great episode! Really hope Godzilla Minus One is covered next

The crew spent their days doing their regular work. As men started going missing, the remaining men had to do extra duties and got very little sleep. It was generally the steersman or watchman who went missing at night, while everyone else was asleep. The whole crew searched the ship once but didn't open the boxes so they only learned what was happening as it was happening to them. The first mate was pissed at everyone being superstitious, at first. He eventually figured it out and pretty much went mad. When it was only him and the captain left, the first mate opened the caskets until he found Dracula. He was so mad by that point that he didn't even try to kill him. He just ran to the deck, shouted a warning to the captain, and jumped overboard. At that point, only the captain was left and he was convinced the first mate had gone nuts and killed everyone. He had to stay at the wheel from then on and he saw Dracula at night. At that point, he updated his log, put it in a bottle and sealed it, then tied himself to the wheel with a rosary around his hands, in the hope that it would protect him from Dracula. He accepted that, as captain, it was his duty to go down with his ship. He kept the bottle with the log in it on himself in the hopes that if the ship sank, someone would eventually find it and understand why they all died. The final log entry doesn't indicate if the captain was hoping to go out to sea or to eventually hit land. His only hope was that the rosary would protect him and save his soul. If you read this whole thing and have never read the book, I suggest signing up for Dracula Daily on substack This guy sends out each entry in the book (it's letters, telegrams, journal entries, newspaper clippings) by email, each day that appears in the book so you read it in the "real time" of the book. The emails start on May 3 and end on November 10. If nothing happens in the book on a particular day, you don't get an email.

For anyone curious, early vampire myths say they can't cross running water. The gravedirt (it's not just from his home, it's specifically from where he was buried) is partially to get around THAT issue, hence him not leaving the ship until it reached shore. The movie didn't stick with that, but that's the reason for how the book went. In answer to the underwater vampire thing

The fact that in the book he escaped as a dog reminds me of the start of The Thing. In the book, Dracula is not as strong in sunlight but it doesn't kill him since he walks around in the day. In the book part of the deal is that Dracula can cloud minds, which works in the screen life feel of the book. Dracula mocking people reminded me of The Predator. The idea with the vampire mermaid has been explored but the reason you don't see vampires in the sea is because running water is one of their weaknesses in certain vampire lore. Stagnant water is ok but any type of water with a current whether that be salt water or fresh water will cause disintegration of their flesh, not the burning sensation of holy water but the same end result. It is why Dracula didn't just fly from Romania to England. That Frankenstein sequel would be a cool idea since that would be the climax part of the original book. Interesting podcast as usual y'all.

So in the book, if I remember correctly (and I might be confusing events with various adaptions, please feel free to correct me), Count Dracula has just bought property in England through Jonathan Harker, and personally chartered the Demeter to take 50 boxes of earth (dirt from the country where he was born, because that’s how he restores his powers) to England. I think he stows away inside of the boxes, so the crew don’t know he’s there, and he’s the one that kills the crew (because he needs blood during the voyage, which lasted weeks to months). As for why the Captain is tied to the steering wheel, I always interpreted it that Dracula did that, because otherwise he’d be stuck in the ocean. After escaping the boat in the form of a dog (because Dracula can shape shift in the book), he sends people to collect the boxes because it is his property and there’s no evidence he’s involved. EDIT: Chelsea mentions the extra crew member, that’s probably Dracula.

To confirm as someone who took a history of western medicine class, we did use to just give blood transfusions before blood typing. It was just thought it was a chance you die from a transfusion but the chances where low enough that it was worth the chances or else you would have definitely died. I was impressed at how accurate they got to how old blood transfusions were done. RIP Huckleberry he deserved the best boy who tried to fight dracula

My professor's brother worked on this movie. The amount of preproduction to post-production work was absolutely insane. We learned about the process of making this movie from someone who actually worked on it, and even though it's not my favorite movie, you can still appreciate all the work put into it.

Regarding the water thing I believe that one of the parts of (the incredibly messy) vampire mythology is the idea of them not being able to cross bodies of water, partly because of the likely real life inspiration of rabies and on a metaphorical level either because bodies of water are holy because it comes from the heavens or because of the vampires not being able to cross boundaries unless permitted and bodies of water are natural barriers.

The two of you overflowing with praise for both Obra Dinn and Outer Wilds makes me so happy. "Those are two of the best game experiences ever." HARD agree.

I love that Chelsea said Dracula likes to play with his food and in the new Abigail trailer the ballerina vampire says she likes to play with her food first.

8:58 I love how you can see Molly just staring Lucy down in the doorway haha. Adds some background drama to the ep

Chelsea’s hair is AMAZING in this episode ❤

The movie is actually shortlisted for best makeup at the oscars (and they are very much into prostetics and heavy makeup) so I think they just added a weird amount of cgi to the vampire

To recommend a way of reading Dracula that's 'easier' I really suggest Re:Dracula. It's a Podcast where they tell the story of Dracula in chronological order and was inspired off of the email phenomenon Dracula Daily, which did the same thing! The voice acting and sound design is incredible. It's worth a shot if you haven't read the book and actually answers the underwater Dracula question!

I was thinking what if the Dracula with the top hat on disappearing into the fog was kind of a nod to Dracula taking on the role of Jack the ripper

50:35 I have a simple answer for James, remember how you said that Dracula mocked his victim (taunted their voices) before killing them?!.... Knowing that is his character, it's not a stretch at all to think he would send back the boat to simply 'mock' any attempts of escape his victims have. Essentially psychological warfare, anytime, all the time.

As UK fans we were royally shafted with this one with its lack of UK theatrical release and no streaming!

I really enjoyed the weird vampire lore in it, my favorite part is how Dracula can transport via moonlight, hence how he gets into the locked room to bite the kid, he gets in via the moonbeam in the room

They need to make this a Van Helsing origin. Clemons is a man of science and research, so have him struggle to make sense of the world of the world through different experiences like this one. Van Clemsing. Have him encounter the Wolf Man, Frankenstein/his monster, the mummy, and the creature from the black lagoon on his journey to kill Dracula. I dont care how that may or may not screw up all of the cannons, that shit would be sick

If you’re looking for a better (and shorter) version of this movie, just watch the Love Death and Robots episode “Bad Traveling”. It was directed by David Fincher and also deals with a monster on board a ship during old maritime days picking off the crew one by one. I found this 21 minute short film to be a much more engaging and much less repetitive version of Last Voyage of the Demeter. If you left Demeter disappointed and wanting more, then try this since it’s such a quick watch.

I can't wait for the day when Lucy and Molly become friends and host their own Podcast episode "Best Animal Owners in Horror."

I surprisingly liked this movie more than I thought when I saw it in theaters, I do gotta say it’s one of my all time favorite designs for Dracula and just take on the story but his design in this movie was awesome

The door moving at 3:13 SCARED ME SO BADLY

I really liked The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Finally a Dracula movie where he’s a terrifying monster instead of just a man. One of my favorite movies of the year. Hate that it didn’t do well in the box office (I blame Universal for barely marketing it). But man the movie absolutely perfected that dark, ominous, helpless atmosphere. It felt creepy and dark from start to finish. My only gripes were the lack of gore and too much cgi used on Dracula. He looked way scarier and more terrifying with the practical suit and effects. Still a great movie imo.

Dracula is not CG in the film (for the most part). It is make up and practical. This is why it was shortlisted for the Oscar for the make-up.

Yes he’s a dog in the book too! They kind-of try to search for this odd dog who ran off of the boat, but it’s not seen after that but there are some reports of the dog in the town, especially near that cemetery that Mina and Lucy sit at. Harker (when he’s captive in the castle) goes to his actual coffin, sees him, but is freaked out. He’s trying to get a room key from him while he sleeps but he can’t find it. Anyway!

My favorite episodes are the ones where you two cover movies that you kinda liked or didn’t like at all. There’s always so much emotion still when talking about the films that keeps me so entertained (other examples: Stay Alive and Lake Placid 😂)

James not remembering the ice luges of new year’s past is so funny 😂

Honestly the most underrated movie of 2023

Love the Outer Wilds and Obra Dinn appreciation! If you guys liked those, I wanna suggest What Remains of Edith Finch and The Case of The Golden Idol

So the Captain of the Demeter in Dracula didn't necessarily want the ship to reach England! I'll quote the end of his log at the end of this comment. My understanding is that he tied his hands with the crucifix to the wheel specifically so that Dracula couldn't steer the ship. If you look at Mina's diary, you see that Dracula had to crash the ship to shore using his power over the weather. " But I am captain, and I must not leave my ship. But I shall baffle this fiend or monster, for I shall tie my hands to the wheel when my strength begins to fail, and along with them I shall tie that which He, It, dare not touch. And then, come good wind or foul, I shall save my soul, and my honour as a captain. I am growing weaker, and the night is coming on. If He can look me in the face again, I may not have time to act . . .If we are wrecked, mayhap this bottle may be found, and those who find it may understand. If not . . . well, then all men shall know that I have been true to my trust. God and the Blessed Virgin and the Saints help a poor ignorant soul trying to do his duty . . ."

Y'all are one of the only channels I still watch consistently. Great stuff 👏

*They see Dracula right off the bat...* Was that an intentional pun by James or no? Either way, I love it.

This movie never got a UK release of any kind. Not even streaming. It was having trailers shown in the cinema and was then pulled last minute as the distributor was bought out

As someone who is inordinately attached to the Demeter section of Dracula, I appreciate Chelsea for calling out how much better the book section is. I support every usage of the phrase "In the book" in this episode!!

I saw this movie and while it has flaws it was a fun watch for me. And I like Dracula being just a straight up monster that doesn't take on a fully human form but always looks like a beast. And I would say Dracula has some scary moments like when people catch glimpses of him or when he is flying around in the fog.

I was the opposite. I flew through Dracula, but struggled through Frankenstein. I ended up loving both. Dracula's ending is so insane it's way worth the finish.

In most vampire lore, Vampires can't deal with running water like lakes, rivers, streams, and the ocean. That's why Dracula needs a ferry at all.

1:05:17 Literally my exact experience in high school with The Phantom of Opera novel! I had never seen the musical and had made assumptions about the characters from the songs. Then I started reading the book, realized I didn’t know what was going on at all and suddenly couldn’t stop reading.

Vampires often cannot cross running water, so undersea vamps with classic weaknesses are unlikely.

According to IMDb in the Lost Boys “Michael” is said approximately 118 times.

3:40 I have been that hungover once in my life, it was a Sunday morning and my parents (I was still living at home) were afraid to leave me home alone in case I passed out again and drowned in my own vomit (Dad lost at least one friend in high school that way), so I came to church with them and huddled in the back seat of the car, in winter, bundled in a thermal sleeping bag, and just was so nauseous and miserable and gross, while my parents poked their heads out the church door every 10 or so minutes to make sure I wasn’t dead 🥲 Then we went to the pastors house because we already had lunch plans with them 🫠 All in all a day that lives in personal infamy 😂

One of the reasons I believe it bombed is that it never got a theatrical release in the UK. Don't know about other countries, but I'm in the UK & I was actually looking forward to the release date. I'm not sure what happened, but I think the company that was meant to distribute it to theatres was bought & that always causes problems.

In my opinion this should have been advertised like the film "underwater" where the Dracula and *insert underwater spoiler here* elements were an added surprise and going in it should have just been a monster on a boat type premise.

The dark universe failing might be the best thing to happen to universal. Without it who knows if we would’ve had invisible man or these different interpretations of Dracula with Demeter and Renfield

Addresing Vampire under water question: the 3 part Netflix Dracula series has that. Spoiler alert but that's how he survives the Demeter sinking if I recall correctly. He underwater walks his ass to England

I love the more monstrous interpretations of Dracula instead of the sparkly, handsome versions brought up by Twilight

For some reason every time they said Toby i was picturing Toby from Pranormal Activity and that made this a lot more fun

This is one of my favorite movies of 2023 mainly because it’s one of the interpretations of the events that happened in the Dracula novel since that chapter in the book itself is left a little vague

9:48 I would LOVE a dead meat coverage of crimson peak 🥰🥰

You guys should do a podcast on Poor Things and how close it resembles Frank Hennenlotter’s Frankenhooker and what else Mary Shelley’s work has influenced.

This was fun to watch. Normally I only listen to the podcast and for some reason today I decided to watch it..and Molly ... I have a dog and this is life and it just made it all the more delightful

I ended up finally playing DR because of the kill count! So fun to hear me and Chelsea have the same fave character (and ship lmao)

There's a few chapters of Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing that deals with a deep lake full of fish vampires actually! It's great, like the rest of the series.

Another Gundam enjoyer!!! May his 4 dark devas bless you all!!

It’s actually like 90 percent practical they had a whole suit built for him, and prosthetics yall should really look at the behind the scenes stuff 😂 it’s actually really impressive.

I finally finished the last of the past episodes, I feel satisfied yet empty. New episodes hit different now 😌🙌🥰

I know that in the UK the distributor never even bothered to release it, as they apparently, as a cost-saving move, decided to not show ANY of their upcoming theatrical releases (Demeter included). No idea whether this would have saved the film (which I enjoyed) from bombing as much, but I think that that move probably hurt the movie's box office even if it saved the company money on promoting it here and stuff. Also, yes, they had a physical boat set, and the Dracula make-up was mostly physical and augmented with CG. There's behind the scenes stuff of it being applied. :)

yippee!!! new pod episode! hope January is treating yall well !

Loved the episode! Also very excited for the Royal Rumble! I can't wait to hear your commentary again.

Omg at first I thought James' shirt had a large round collar with black piping and I was like WERRRRŔK. but then I realized it was just the mic cord... but now I'm inspired to make a similar shirt

ooh been excited for this one. I am literally watching the film in preparation.

I worked with the kid from Mallrats that said “a schooner is a sailboat, stupid head!”. He was a pretty funny guy, really nice too

it is really weird that they start the movie being like "this is an adaptation of the captains log in Dracula" but then don't actually stick to the rules laid out in the book, such as with the cross not working even though it does in the book.

so happy this movie is being talked about!!!

I feel so much better knowing Chelsea hasn't finished Dracula either lol 😅 solidarity

About underwater Vampires, in OG Dracula lore Vampires can not cross running water. I don’t think it’s explained what happens to them but I assume it means they just can’t move. So as a response Toby would just be frozen at the bottom of the ocean. All of OG Bram Stroker’s lore is based on vampire, undead, and werewolf mythology from multiple European cultures. It’s really wild to figure where Stroker got all his lore from and the research he did for this book.

I love this movie so much, very excited to watch this episode

Way to go guys ! I was wondering what you guys thought of this one.

This is my second favorite movie about a vampire on a boat. The first one is 1992's Dracula.

We can't watch this in the UK. My only option was to buy the DVD for £25 (about 32 USD) and I don't have a DVD player anyway. So sad it got pulled from cinemas here!

i love that chelsea got to work with one of the danganronpa voice actors for a thing!! that makes me happy, i can't imagine how happy she is lol. congrats chels!

Speaking of games, you guys gotta play Alan Wake 2!! Feels such like a True Detective feel with Silence of the Lambs too. The story is insane too. Enthralled. With great scares.

for some reason i thought y’all were taking a break for the new year and i was gonna miss you❤😂

Became a fan fan of this channel since I accidentally stumbled on it back in 2018. This channel instantly became my go "lunch watch" every Friday during my lunch break. Would love to see you bring back and finish the kill counts for the George A Romero Universe "Land / Diary / Survival of the Dead."

I was happily surprised with this movie!

I was also at the Rose Bowl! And just got back from Houston! Go blue!

If you're curious about underwater vampires, then Alan Moore explores the idea briefly in his run of Swamp Thing. Not a perfect exploration of your question, but he does show them thriving beneath the water. Regardless, his run of Swamp Thing is worth the read.

Speaking of getting emails during the holidays...I got drunk after the Rose Bowl and sent you a rambly one. I don't drink so it his me HARD. Sorry about that, but Go Blue!

It was such a delightful surprise to hear that you’d be covering this on the pod! I was eager to hear your thoughts because I sure had a LOT of them about this film. Dracula is my favorite book! I did my art thesis project on it in college and have read it a handful of times since. I tried not to get my expectations up for this movie, but I failed spectacularly at that, I couldn’t help it. Your comparison to Alien is right on. Personally, I think this movie would have worked much better if it had been more similar to The Thing. Still a close quarters creature horror, but with more of an emphasis on character driven conflict, mistrust, and paranoia. Chelsea touched on this a little bit, that in the Captain’s Log of the book, it starts by men disappearing one by one with no evidence of foul play at all. There’s a lot of disagreement on whether there’s someone on board or if it’s one of the men. The Captain still doesn’t know by the end of it- that’s why he lashes himself to the helm, when he dies he thinks it was the first mate who went mad and killed everyone. I get that some of the mystery and suspense is ruined because we the audience know it’s Dracula- but I think the movie could fix that by not showing us Dracula so early on. It would build anticipation and excitement because we know it’s Dracula and are waiting for him to show up, but the first (and honestly second) act is spent actually developing these characters and watching them question their own sanity and that of their fellow crewmates. Maybe they only find bloodstains at first, so they know something is being done to the missing men but they don’t have further evidence to suspect a non-human creature. I like the addition of Ana, it was hilarious to me to think about Dracula packing a snack for the trip like tossing a few cliff bars into your carryon bag. But you’re right, she knows too much and it kind of breaks things a little. I think they should have found her a little later on and/or for her to just...not know as much as she knows? Maybe she’s heard stories in her town but doesn’t know exactly what happened to her or how she ended up here. Talk about bad dreams etc. Or have her just become a fakeout antagonist and turn earlier on, so they think it was her but then someone else dies. I think keeping essential information from them as long as possible is the way to make the fact that they don’t just stake Dracula in his sleep (because yeah, it is that simple, though they wouldn’t know they need to stake his heart I guess) less frustrating. And to do that without the movie being boring they need to spend more time suspecting and in-fighting each other and actually develop all the characters beyond “sailor dude 1 2 and 3”. Take advantage of Dracula’s hypnosis skills etc. (Maybe they search the boxes towards the end of act 2 and do bit of a “final girl circuit” where they find all the exsanguinated bodies of missing crewmen in other crates) Drac is smart, he knows he can’t sail this ship by himself, so he takes his time with them and shouldn’t reveal himself so soon. There’s a big storm on the final day that the boat lists into Whitby harbor, so have act 3 and the final showdown take place during one night- during that storm. Overall my biggest problem with the movie is that Clemons lived. I could have forgiven most things but not that. It did feel like it became too much of a studio action movie in the end, like they didn’t have the guts to adapt a story where everyone dies-and actually have everyone die. I think if they had gone all in on a slow, suspenseful horror that takes one piece of a greater story and explores and expands upon it- it could have been really great. People loved Rogue One, we knew probably no one was gonna live, and they let it happen, and what resulted was a really great film that took a closer look at one aspect of a greater narrative. Letting Clemons live breaks Dracula as a narrative. The Last Voyage of Demeter cannot exist within the greater narrative of Dracula because what they’ve done is written a (very good) character with strong morals and bravery who vows at the end of the film that he’s going to commit himself to stopping Dracula. Yet, that character DOESN’T EXIST! So unless they’re going to make a sequel where their new OC joins Jonathan, Mina, VH and the Gang to bring down the big bad- it’s broken you broke the story that’s not what happens next!! I could keep going but yeah- overall I agree wholeheartedly, it was enjoyable to watch, but so frustrating because it was so close to being really really great. Love you guys! So glad you made an episode on this- Looking forward to the rumble :)

obsessed with chelsea’s sweater, it’s soooo cute!!

Hopefully this one gets nominated for best make up at the Oscars. It’s currently shortlisted.

The thing with the Universal version is that it's based more on the interpretation presented by the play and not the original Stoker novel, this is also why Bela wanted to/and lobbied HARD to play Drac since he was already him in the play

8:18 - Actually it was a mix of both. There was a ton of CG like when he killed the cook or when he was holding Clemens up in the 3rd act. However a lot of scenes like when he is seen by the crew and runs into the darkness right before he kills the cabin boy was actually Javier. If you go back and rewatch with that knowledge it makes for a slightly better experience seeing which parts are CG or Javier.

I actually really enjoyed this, 1st time in a long while they made Dracula scary & feral instead of aristocratic. Him actually changing his appearance overtime & getting stronger was great. I thought the final scene with him at the pub in clothing seemed a perfect segue turning into nosferatu

Javier Botet made me watch it (I'll watch him in anything). I love hearing your thoughts on this one, it seems to have flown under the radar.

I once saw Toby Huss at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf that used to be in Studio City. I can vouch for his existence. 💯

Finally! Got my Deadmeat Podcast fix! 🚬

I wish the marketing were better, I saw absolutely no ads of it on KZfaq, and barely saw anyone talking about it.

I also was surprised when I read the descriptions of Dracula in the novel and struggled to re-picture him instead of picturing what had become the classic go-to look for the character.

45:47 The one and only adult Toby is Toby Flenderson from The Office, of course.

58:28 in the movie Daybreakers that’s actually how you cure a vampire. If they get burned enough in the sun but get extinguished either by water or whatever they stop being a vampire. So there’s been a similar concept. Somewhat.

Great episode Chelsea! Keep up the good work ^°^

Many years ago, while on the phone with the Red Cross to schedule donating some blood, I asked the lady I was talking to, “hey, what happens if you get blood that’s not compatible with your blood type?” She said she’d ask a coworker and put me on hold for a minute or two. When she came back, she said, in the most chipper and matter-of-fact way, “You’d die.”

Aw hell nah they put vampires on a boat?!

Love this like always, enjoyed this way more than the movie. As to adult Toby there is Toby Ziegler, best character in West Wing

It was thought in ancient times that the only sure-fire way to kill vampires is to submerge them in running water. People believed that spirits could not cross running water, which therefore, would temporarily separate the vampire from the bonded souls of their victims, which they must release first. So forget about a vampire living in the ocean.