‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’ is a Frighteningly Good Time – Review

This review was published during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023. The Last Voyage of the Demeter would not exist without the labour of its writers, director, actors, and the many departments integral to the filmmaking process. Learn more about the demands of actors and writers here.

“Search the ship. Everywhere.” –Captain Eliot

Throughout most of film history, when the legend of Dracula is explored on the big screen, the material is focused on the extravagant style of the creature of the night. But André Øvredal’s horrifying journey into the ocean’s darkness doesn’t care about imitating what has come before. The Last Voyage of the Demeter is based on a chapter from Bram Stroker’s iconic novel, where Captain Eliot shares what happened when he was commissioned to transport special packages from Romania to London. He never imagined the type of evil he brought onto his beloved ship.

Liam Cunningham is responsible for portraying the Captain in this adaptation, bringing to life an honest man who always had his crew’s best interests in mind. The actor powerfully transmits Eliot’s loss of hope as he realizes the vampire who hides in his spooky boat won’t allow anyone to make it to London alive, but he is sure he can’t let the demon roam freely in England. Eliot is the earnest protector a movie of this nature needs, allowing the audience to perceive how he gives the crew a false sense of security while he privately loses his mind.

However, the leading man of the narrative is Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a young doctor who only wants a chance to work. The need for Clemens to board the ship is because, even if he studied in one of the most prestigious universities on the planet, he’s not allowed to practice his knowledge due to his race. A constant network of discrimination forces the young doctor to board the doomed ship, and Hawkins does an excellent job of showing how the character projects the rejection he faces throughout his life into the imposing vampire.

When it comes to the monster behind the horror himself, Javier Botet delivers a marvellous performance as the world’s most famous vampire. The way the performer crawls, moves and conveys a message through body language is enough to keep viewers awake at night, with his version of Dracula living as an evil person and an animal thirsty for blood. When it’s time for the vampire to strike, he only does whisper their victims’ final cries back to them, making them feel as powerless against their destiny as possible.

What is not explicitly told is what makes this Dracula scary, besides his fangs, wings, and ability to end a life in an instant. Other people infected by the curse in The Last Voyage of the Demeter look slightly different from when they were utterly human. For Dracula to lose most of his speech ability, finding himself disfigured and with the ability to fly, it must have taken centuries for the transformation to take place in its entirety. Regardless of how much time the monster has spent killing everything that stood in his way back in Romania, he’s about to give the crew of the Demeter the worst voyage of their lives.

Unfortunately, not everything is positive aboard the ship, with Øvredal’s story failing to find an even pace. The tragedy takes place over several weeks, yet it’s hard to pinpoint how much time has passed in every sequence or how that could have affected the emotional state of the crew. In addition to uneven pacing, the movie struggled to settle for its narrative’s tone. Demeter constantly relies on action while occasionally flirting with the quiet horror meant to give its audience goosebumps. The latest adaptation of Stoker’s work could’ve spent more time deciding what kind of spooks it wanted to bite into.

With engaging performances, a terrifying atmosphere and a version of Dracula that goes beyond its thirst for blood, The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a worthy exploration of the Dracula myth that allows the audience to immerse themselves in a dark story full of tension, thrills and the introduction of a new version of the most famous vampire in the history of fiction. The end of the summer movie season arrives with a beautiful tale of humanity in the face of fear. Øvredal’s creepy voyage delivers a fearful journey highlighted by the cast’s performances.