By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Spanish actor Javier Botet has portrayed any number of memorable monsters in his career, from the “Medeiros Girl” in [REC] to the title role in MAMA to the Crooked Man in THE CONJURING 2 and beyond. Next year, he’ll be seen as one of the all-time great screen fiends, Dracula himself, in THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER, and he gave RUE MORGUE a few words about the role.
THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER, directed by André Øvredal (for whom Botet played the “Big Toe Corpse” in SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK) from a script by Bragi F. Schut and Zak Olkewicz, is set for Universal release August 11, 2023. Based on a portion of Bram Stoker’s DRACULA novel, it details what went down on the titular merchant vessel, which brought the Count from Transylvania to England, and also stars Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham and David Dastmalchian. This incarnation of Dracula is “a really bad guy,” Botet tells us, “and also a beautiful creature. The makeup [designed by THE BATMAN’s Göran Lundström] is amazing, and so is all the art direction. It will be a frenzied and terrifying film, I’m sure!
“It was a dream for me to take on such an iconic and important role,” he continues. “It’s the ultimate experience in my monster-performing career. Dracula is the original movie monster–the legend–and to play him in such a big project, with Steven Spielberg’s Amblin company involved, was a dream come true.”
Also ahead for Botet is the North American release of a movie in which he shows his real face: The psychological chiller AMIGO, coming from Dekanalog and Raven Banner this Friday, December 2. Written by Botet, longtime filmmaking partner David Pareja and director Óscar Martín, it stars Botet and Pareja along with Patricia Estremera, Esther Gimeno and Luichi Macías. The synopsis: “After a violent accident, the good-natured David [Pareja] decides to accommodate and care for his best friend, Javi [Botet]. But as the two of them begin arguing, the truth about their toxic, homicidal relationship bubbles to the surface–and madness soon takes hold.”
