The story of Dracula is truly that of the undead in Hollywood, as Bram Stoker's legendary vampire has been portrayed countless times from the early days of the silent era to the CGI heavy spectacles of the 21st century, with varying degrees of success. That's why the premise of The Last Voyage of the Demeter is an interesting one, as it looked to shed some light on a part of Dracula lore that even Stoker just hinted at — Dracula's journey to London aboard the Demeter.
In Stoker's original novel, the events of Dracula's crossing told in the chapter "The Captain's Log" was done after the fact and only in snippets through log and diary entries. As the opening text of this new movie reads, The Last Voyage of the Demeter tells the story of what is to happen with this ill-fated crew.
However, Stoker may have had it right being sparse with the details, as The Last Voyage of the Demeter is not a revolutionary look into the mythos around one of the all-time great movie monsters. It is at best a passable summer blockbuster movie offering some mild jump scares, average action and, its one real standout, an interesting new look for the prince of darkness.
Starting off with the positive, the look of Dracula in this movie is pretty darn cool. While definitely taking some inspiration from Nosferatu, the design is unique enough to stand out. Kudos to Javier Botet for his work embodying Dracula and to the visual effects team for a job well done. Though you have to wonder if the less is more theory would have served the movie better in the long run when it comes to how often they show Dracula.
Beyond that, the telling of this previously skimmed over bit of the story is entertaining enough, but nothing ever raises it to a level truly worth celebrating.
A big part of that falls on the lack of interest in its human characters. Corey Hawkins' Clemens serves as the lead of the story, but he's made to be more of a mopey hero. Of course he has valid reason given the movie does not ignore (though really just barely scratches) the realities of the time regarding Clemens' race, but there's nothing in particular about Clemens as an individual that gets us to root for him other than the fact he is not Dracula.
It's similar for the rest of the crew. The movie opted to give them bland or glum personalities, not allowing them to stand out. So when it comes time for Dracula to feed we're not exactly heartbroken when they get their life drained from them. The only exceptions are Toby (Woody Norman), who hits all the necessary requirements for a sweet kid in a horror movie, and Anna (Aisling Franciosi), whose knowledge and history of Dracula is interesting and the most earned emotional arc we get.
Another area of disappointment is The Last Voyage of the Demeter is billed as a horror movie from André Øvredal, director of previous horror entries like Troll Hunter and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, yet the scares are minimal at best. While an eerie tone lies over the entire story, jump scares are the main strategy. Whether we've become desensitized to them over all these years or poor execution, they don't do the trick here.
Speaking of execution, the editing feels a bit off at times. In many of the jump scares or pieces with significant action, things feel choppily edited, minimizing the impact of the scene. If the intent was to be disorienting like the crew members of the Demeter, it did not come together as succinctly as Øvredal may have intended.
Then there are just simple problems with plotting. It is not the most elaborate plot and it certainly doesn't need to be, but still plot holes emerge. Characters take actions but then do nothing with what they've seen or learned when that perhaps could be the key to stopping Dracula from killing them all. Or they forget things that they seemingly already knew.
To cap it all off, the movie tries to have its cake and eat it too. Stoker's original writings and the movie inform us what is going to happen, but the movie can't help itself and finds a way to tease a potential sequel. If ever there was meant to be a one-off, you would think The Last Voyage of the Demeter would be it.
While there's a base level of enjoyment to be had with The Last Voyage of the Demeter, it is not a vital addition to the legend of Dracula. Instead, a promising premise gets a mediocre telling with nothing for audiences to really sink their teeth into.
Watch The Last Voyage of the Demeter in movie theaters worldwide on August 11.
