Summary

The Last Voyage of the Demeter fails to deliver on its early promise of being a compelling horror experience. The focus on jump scares and a skeptic character detracts from the potential scares and fails to bring authenticity to the storytelling. The film lacks originality and doesn’t distinguish itself from previous vampire stories. It sacrifices epic sequences of carnage for a slow-paced flick that feels more focused on setting up a potential sequel than delivering a satisfying standalone film. The acting, particularly Liam Cunningham and Aisling Franciosi’s performances, is commendable, but it’s often overshadowed by bizarre dialogue and expected characterizations. The film ultimately falls short in capturing the essence of the iconic character Dracula.

Editor’s note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

In chapter seven of Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 novel, Dracula, the Irish author details a captain’s log of the dark presence that stalked the crew of the merchant ship Demeter. Inspired to capture the chilling horrors of this famous chapter, screenwriter Bragi F. Schut began working on the story more than two decades ago. Finally, after being stuck in development hell, André Øvredal was announced as director in 2019. His take on this suspenseful chapter is hampered by a lackluster script and an overly long runtime that focuses on the wrong characters. The Last Voyage of the Demeter showed promise early on, but failed to capitalize on the inherent horrors of its story.

There’s a lingering feeling of disappointment after having watched The Last Voyage of the Demeter. The first act of the film succeeded in drawing my attention by creating an atmosphere that was audibly gripping and visually interesting. Even though it took a while to go full Dracula mode, the lead-up to the first kills felt earned and rewarding from an entertainment standpoint. Why then is Øvredal’s picture so unsatisfactory? To make a long story short, the framing makes the film drag, and for the film’s subject matter, it doesn’t live up to expectations regarding the scares.

The film doesn’t take advantage of its early promises of being a good old-fashioned horror experience. Here, we have a creature whose insatiable thirst for blood should be all the inspiration one needs to go full throttle. Yet, too often the film relies on cheap jump scares to convey the horrors instead of using its long runtime to bring authenticity to its storytelling. The majority of the film also sees Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a medic, play the skeptic on his quest to uncover the truth about what’s happening on the ship. And while he does so effortlessly, the focus pivots away from Dracula, turning into a vampire hunt — something we’ve all seen before.

Had the framing of the story been focused on Dracula’s hunt for blood, The Last Voyage of the Demeter could have been something special. Throughout the years, there have been plenty of vampire stories and depictions, but this latest contains nothing that sets itself apart from its predecessors. It may be easy to examine the film as a one-off, whose mere existence is to entertain and reimagine the chilling chapter in Dracula. However, it struggles to even do that by dragging out the story and sacrificing what could have been epic sequences of carnage for a lackluster and slowly-paced flick that concentrates too much on its sequel potential.

For what it’s worth, the acting is good, with the standouts being Liam Cunningham as Captain Elliot and Aisling Franciosi, who plays the stowaway Anna. The emotions they are able to capture onscreen left me truly feeling for their characters. Unfortunately, their efforts often get interrupted by bizarre dialogue at the most inappropriate moments, taking me out of the movie. The characterizations of the remaining crew members are also standouts, though not for good reasons. It’s all expected behaviors in a story of this nature, where it’s rare to see performances that elevate the characters they are playing.

For a character who has made plenty of appearances onscreen throughout the decades since his creation, this adaptation of Dracula is merely a disappointment in disguise. Suspense can only take a film so far, and that’s exactly why The Last Voyage of the Demeter runs out of gas and energy before the third act. It’s never of interest to me to tell readers and movie-goers not to see a film. But if you’re looking for a scary and creative vampire story that is true to its original tale while still displaying interesting upgrades to the lore, this film may not be for you.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is now playing in theaters. The film is 118 minutes long and rated R for bloody violence.