By Becca Johnson August 24, 2024
Vampire films, especially those revolving around Dracula, aren’t exactly a rarity. However, 'The Last Voyage of the Demeter' does something a little different, choosing to focus on one segment from the 1897 classic. Directed by Andre Ovredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe), the film follows the crew of merchant ship Demeter as they attempt to survive the ocean voyage from Carpathia to London, being stalked each night by a merciless presence onboard the ship. Releasing back in August of last year in the US (and the majority of countries outside the UK…), fans have been waiting a long while to see this adaptation hit our screens.
With a gorgeous gothic setting, fantastic performances and an eerie villain, 'The Last Voyage of the Demeter' is often an entertaining watch. However, the lack of meat on its bones as a feature length film means the story leaves much to be desired.
Review
The best thing about gothic horrors is easily the aesthetic, and 'The Last Voyage of the Demeter' fully understands this. This looks fantastic from start to finish, with a gloomy and bleak tone and aesthetic that envelopes you immediately. The ship, that we spend the majority of our run-time on, is equally as stunning as it is murky, with the location being utilised well. The film feels pretty hopeless throughout, with plenty of sequences oozing with unease, yet it’s beautiful to look at regardless. Despite this dreary tone, the film still knows how to have fun, and has plenty of entertain action segments and some very intriguing, gory horror. The look of Dracula is fantastic, with a good physical performance from Javier Botet (The Conjuring 2), though it’s a shame he doesn’t get more screen-time as he’s painfully underutilised. Dracula definitely tears his way through his victims, as expected, and horror hounds will receive much grizzly entertainment from this. 'The Last Voyage of the Demeter' cleverly balances its melancholic tone with engaging scenes placed throughout all three acts to create an entertaining watch.
Another element that single location films must have to succeed is a competent cast to elevate the material; thankfully, 'The Last Voyage of the Demeter' has this. As mentioned above, the physical performance from Botet is fantastic, delivering a creepy, memorable turn as villain Dracula. The cast also boasts Corey Hawkins as Clemens (BlacKkKlansman) who is great, and Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale) who is making a name for herself in the horror genre. Alongside her memorable turn earlier this year in Robert Morgan’s creative mixed media film 'Stopmotion', she’s having quite the year, and many fans are eager to see her return to the genre again. Of all the cast, viewers will undoubtedly be most excited to see David Dastmalchian make an appearance. With particularly excellent turns in 'Late Night with the Devil' and 'The Boogeyman (2023)', he is slowly become an actor that people will press play for due to his presence alone. 'The Last Voyage of the Demeter' may not showcase career best work from him, but he certainly makes his mark. Young Woody Norman (C’mon C’mon) is the biggest scene-stealer of all, which is even more impressive given his age. It’s not his first foray into horror, as many will remember his fab leading performance in last years creepy 'Cobweb', yet he’s just as promising here, if not, better. Norman is certainly one to watch going forward.
Despite boasting a wonderful cast and excellent visuals, 'The Last Voyage of the Demeter' struggles to fully impress due to its story. There’s certainly some intrigue in here, and the tale of Dracula is one that we’ll never tire of, but the issue lies within the fact it doesn’t have enough meat on its bones. Based off of just one single chapter of a larger story, the film struggles to fill out its feature length run-time, which at two-hours long doesn’t feel as short as it probably should be. Becoming very repetitive in places, we’re mostly waiting for nightfall as we know that’s when our villain will strike. It utilises the same beats more than once, creating a formulaic viewing experience. With the audience only bothered by what’s happening when Dracula is out to play, a large majority of the film is rendered uninteresting. Another issue this storyline faces is that we know how it ends, taking away from the stakes. Whether you’ve read Dracula or not, you’ll know that he makes it off the boat, so it’s hard to fully immerse yourself into a story that you know the ending of. Furthermore, what’s the point in rooting for any of these characters if you’re pretty sure they won’t make it?
'The Last Voyage of the Demeter' has all of the ingredients for a memorable gothic horror - it just unfortunately squanders its story. The tone is nothing short of excellent, the acting is superb and the cinematography is exactly as it should be, bleak and eerie and highly immersive. What we’re left with is a perfectly serviceable horror that’s entertaining at the time, but due to Dracula’s lack of screen-time and its formulaic plot, may not be as memorable as it hoped to be.
Star Rating
'The Last Voyage of the Demeter' had its UK premiere August 24 at Frightfest London 2024
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