The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – A crew sailing from Carpathia to England find that they are carrying very dangerous cargo.

My Take – Though Dracula continues to remain a cultural icon, the Count seems to be having a tough time on celluloid lately.

The Twilight series was indeed a money spinner, but will largely be remembered for being tedious and emotionally soulless, the animated Hotel Transylvania franchise finally lost its charm with the drab fourth installment, and Dracula: Untold (2014), despite dripping with potential, ended up being an ordinary forgettable action blockbuster.

And while his most recent rendition found immense initial hype as it saw Nicholas Cage go all out as the blood-sucking vampire in the entertaining Renfield (2023), sadly the flick didn’t find many takers at the box office. However, his second appearance on screen this year portrays him as a full on ugly monster, instead of the charming human persona we are so used to.

Based on a single chapter “The Captain’s Log” from author Bram Stoker‘s 1897 novel Dracula, and from a story by Bragi Schut Jr. who took initial inspiration for the film from his viewing of a scale model of the Demeter ship used for filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola‘s 1992 adaptation of the novel.

While many might assume the story to be familiar, but in the hands of director André Øvredal (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, The Autopsy of Jane Doe) the segment ends up being a fresh new take on the Dracula legend, a dark, thrilling horror flick in the vein of classic claustrophobic thrillers like Alien (1979) and The Thing (1982). With all the potential of becoming reevaluated as a fan favorite in the next few years, this is a thrilling film that is executed in a unique enough way to surprisingly work.

Sure, it does not reach its full potential, particularly with the paranoia aspect the premise offers, yet it remains a simple, effective nightmare throughout. It’s bloody, exciting, and everything you would expect from a Dracula feature.

Opening on August 6, 1897 which sees the discovery of an empty ship wrecked against the rocks of England, the story heads back a few weeks when the merchant ship named Demeter made port in Varna, Bulgaria, to pick up cargo transportation to London consisting of multiple large wooden crates bearing the insignia of a dragon, transported by locals from Romania, and follows Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a doctor, who overhears that the ship is looking for crew members.

Though he is immediately rejected by Wojchek (David Dastmalchian), the first mate, but upon saving the life of young Toby (Woody Norman), he is offered a position aboard by Elliot (Liam Cunningham), Toby’s grandfather and the ship’s captain.

While the ship takes off well, with a better chance of reaching earlier than expected, earning the crew a good set of bonuses, however, their troubles begin as soon as one of the crates burst open during bad weather and Clemens ends up finding a woman (Aisling Franciosi) buried in dirt inside.

Who upon regaining consciousness warns the crew about the presence of Dracula on the ship, an evil monster who has been preying on her village for generations. Soon livestock onboard is killed and the crew start disappearing, leaving Clemens and the remaining to fight for their lives.

Right from its opening, director André Øvredal does a solid job of setting up a heavy apocalyptic tone that hovers over the film throughout the recounting of the story’s events. Although a few of the horror scenes lack ingenuity and feel familiar, he crafts an impeccable atmosphere with undying tension.

Most of this film takes place on a boat, surrounded by crashing waves and thunderstorms. It’s an exceptional variation of the horror film that finds our characters out in the sea, with no way to communicate with anyone outside of the ship.

He also makes the Demeter itself a character with the claustrophobic and labyrinth nature of the ship put to some great usage in the set pieces. And as Dracula hunts down the crew members, the Demeter becomes claustrophobic, adding to the terrifying ambiance. The script does make great use of the small location and has sufficient thematic depth and a few strong character beats.

The interior of the ship has an ominous air to it that eventually seeps onto the deck, even during the brighter day scenes. The ship’s crew also has a system of knocking on the ship’s wood, which carries the sound to send messages, setting up some well-crafted scenes of tension. But unfortunately it’s also bogged down with a lot of empty characters and too many scenes of meandering, repetitive conversation.

Thankfully, seeing Dracula finally step out of the shadows for his kills was enthralling. Actually, the only reason the third act had any punch at all was because Dracula was in the shadows for the majority of the film. That work extends to the special effects used to bring Dracula to life. Here he takes on a more beastly design rather than his classier look, and the bat-like look as he crawls, climbs, and flies add to his terrifying air, especially when he sinks his teeth into his victims.

Performance wise, Corey Hawkins makes for likable protagonist, while David Dastmalchian and Liam Cunningham add gravitas to the film. Woody Norman, who surprised in the recent released Cobweb, once again is delightful. In other roles, Aisling Franciosi, Chris Walley, Jon Jon Briones, Stefan Kapicic, Martin Furulund, and Nikolai Nikolaeff are decent enough.

But of course, this is Javier Botet‘s show all the way as he does a solid job of creating an image of Dracula whose presence is felt even when he’s off camera and does a nice job of establishing the mythology and mystique of the character. On the whole, ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’ is a thrilling claustrophobic horror with enough tension and scares to become a worthy addition to the lore.