The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)

The film makers behind The Last Voyage of the Demeter make a noble effort, taking a short piece of Bram Stoker's Dracula novel and fleshing it out to a full story. It's a good idea; the story of the doomed ship that transported the famous vampire from Romania to England, and whose crew kept him fed until he arrived, should offer some good chills. And generally the film tells a decent story but it just never quite rises to a level that makes it anything more than a side story. 

It's the same sort of trapped in a small space with a monster story that has worked well in films like Alien, but unlike that film, Demeter doesn't take too many chances or offer many surprises. It moves through the motions and what it does it does well, creating a creepy atmosphere and offering some scares. I will give the film points for not shying away from killing the kid and dog (usually they are the ones that get spared cause that raises the terror level even more) so I kept thinking maybe the film would surprise me but the rest of the film kept doing exactly what one would expect. 

The film decides not to make Dracula a character, just the threat in the background. I actually think this is the right choice as the Count's story is told in the main tale. and this should be about something else. But the film doesn't take on any interesting themes for the crew to deal with that would flesh out the story other than just trying to survive. There were times I felt the film wanted to take on the undying persistence of racism or the horrors of colonialism (literally importing evil) but it never quite goes far enough down that path to make it be about something. Perhaps if The Last Voyage of the Demeter had opted to tell a story amongst the crew with the threat of the devil lurking in the background it may have become something truly fascinating and terrifying. Instead it remains a simple story. A decent but simple story. 

And that's okay. What it does it does well. It's a nice little companion piece to the more famous story. It's just not anything more than that. 

The Last Voyage of the Demeter

Starring: Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian

Director: André Øvredal

Writers: Bragi Schut Jr., Zak Olkewicz