With 50 crates of private cargo on board, Captain Elliot (Liam Cunningham) leads the Demeter from Romania to London for what will be his final voyage before retiring to the countryside.  Among the crew are Wojeck (David Dastmalchian) the first mate, Toby (Woody Norman) the captain’s son, and Clemons (Corey Hawkins) the ship doctor.  Once they are at sea, they discover Anna (Aisling Franciosi), a stowaway on the ship, and as superstition tells it is bad luck for a woman to be onboard.  The weather turns, the livestock die from disease, and at night, a creature can be seen staking the decks. 

André Øvredal’s The Last Voyage of the Demeter finally makes port after Universal Pictures delayed its release from early 2023 to August.  Written by Bragi F. Schut and Zak Olkewicz, the 119-minute film delves into a chapter of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula, chronicling the ill-fated voyage in which the vampire was covertly brought to London ports and brought with him The Black Plague.  While Dracula’s story has been told a number of times over, few versions focus much on “The Captain’s Logbook” except that the boat arrived without a soul alive on board and carrying crates of rotting dirt.  By focusing on this oft-overlooked section of the narrative, Øvredal and his team were able to spin a haunting tale that leans on the story we all know while exploring aspects of it that are new and fresh. 

The film cold opens on the ghost ship docking off the rocky shoals of London carried by the waves.  On one hand, the story the film is based on is over 125 years old, so it is hard to consider this an outright “spoiler,” but within the context of the time audiences are with the film, it still feels a little like self-sabotage to give away the ending is done here.  It makes for a bold opening, sure, but giving away the end game of the film means the stakes on the ship need to be that much higher and they do not always meet that level.  While the film does explore some mystery, especially in the first half when tensions are high because the crew already does not trust Clemons and they grow even more suspicious when Anna appears, it ultimately becomes more of a creature feature where the crew get picked off one by one than the psychological potboiler that it was set up to be. 

When Dracula (Javier Botet) does appear, he takes on a more monstrous approach than human.  Opting for practical effects as much as possible, creating the evolving look for Dracula was a massive endeavor as with each feeding, he would grow in his strength from the frail and gaunt husk he started the journey as.  Botet lends his skills to the film, no stranger to monster roles, and can command the frame with his jerky and predatory movements.  The cinematography team of Roman Osin and Tom Stern capture his nightly attacks very well and with only one instance late in the film where they utilize fog to hide and conceal Dracula, by and large audiences see everything.  Though the film does cut away from some of the gore-in-action favoring instead reaction shots of the horrified cast, the camera almost always returns to witness the carnage creating some gruesome imagery.   

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is at its most fun when it has Dracula stalking his prey.  There is an incredible scene in the middle which really acts as a turning point for the whole narrative, not only for the characters because there is no longer any question about a creature being on board, but for audiences too as Øvredal proves he is not afraid to get a little brutal.  When Toby is alone in the Captain’s Quarters, and there is a furious knocking at the door, one can almost forget that we have seen the ship make land abandoned and there is real fear for Toby and hope that he will make it out of this impossible situation alive.  The camera then cuts outside of the door to Olgaran (Stefan Kapicic), a calm and experienced deckhand who is undergoing some strange transformation after suffering an attack the night prior.  Fueled by animalistic instinct, Olgaran is unresponsive to Toby’s pleas of fright as the man uses his head to break through a panel of the sturdy wooden door.  Norman gives a stunning performance here and the fear is palpable as Toby frantically crawls away from the door to hide only to find himself at the feet of the ravenous Dracula, becoming his next victim. 

At dawn, we are on deck and Olgaran is tied to the mast.  As the sun crests the horizon, true to lore, the man’s skin begins to blister before bursting into flames.  The Last Voyage of the Demeter is not looking to add much additional to the lore, rather it peddles in all the classic tropes we know and expect when it comes to vampires and makes sure those elements are executed at the best level possible.  What really helps lift the film out of the realm of B-movie schlock – and certainly, an uninterested audience can easily claim this is just overlong B-movie schlock – is that it spends that first hour or so building up its characters.  The screenwriters know that we know everyone on board this ship will suffer the pain of death, so wisely they staff the ship with a slim crew so as not to give Dracula too much fodder and therefore each death feels significant. We grow close to this rough group of sailors even if we are not aware of it happening so that when their time comes, we notice their absence. As with all stories, some characters are favored as seen here with Olgaran and Wokeck, but especially with Toby and Eliot, too. Øvredal does not let Norman slip by on his performance by being the child on board which creates some inherent sense of danger, but he really teases out a great performance from the young actor which just helps to elevate Cunningham’s performance as the shattered father saying goodbye to his son.  

When Demeter does make port, as seen in the opening, it is empty of life but still at sea is Clemens and Anna. While Anna ultimately succumbs to her vampire bites – having been brought onto the ship to keep Dracula fed during the voyage – she sets off separately from Clemens on her makeshift raft and into the burning sun. Clemens survives, and knowing where Dracula is heading, he inquires at a tavern for directions to the estate listed on the bill of lading for the crates. It is an unnecessary open ending that betrays its source material and feels like a studio note to secure sequel potential, but thankfully there is no “big reveal” that Clemens is actually of the Van Helsing family even though he is operating in that arc of monster hunter and vampire killer in these final moments. It is still hauntingly shot and fits in visually with the overall feel of the film, but it really deflates the power, and the brutality of the ending as not only did Dracula fail to dispatch the entire crew, but he now has someone already on his tail. This is not a unique critique against the film, more so, it is a symptom of the modern film landscape where no studio picture can be allowed to stand on its own merits and always needs to be setting up something for the future should it be a success. It is exhausting, and instead of inspiring fear, dread, and excitement in the audience, it just leaves us feeling weary. 

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is an interesting way into a century-old story. Striking a balance between classic horror and nautical superstition, it does rely a little too much on jump scares holding it back from being a true achievement, but the filmmaking of the whole thing is quite incredible. The film does not feel cheap and being set at sea, it adds to the production value, stakes, and excitement. Couple this with some really well-done gore and practical effects, some beautiful shot compositions with striking color contrasts of fire and water, and Bear McCreary’s pounding score reminiscent of both the waves banging against a ship or the blood pumping through our veins, The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a bold entry into the vampire canon. While fans of Dracula and Nosferatu may find themselves slightly frustrated by some of the choices to make him more of a baseless monster than a conniving and calculating demon-man, they will still be able to join fans of general horror as Øvredal’s work is a bloody, brutal, no-holds-barred adventure into hell.