It’s 2023, so I guess that means it’s time for another Dracula adaptation. Hollywood can’t seem to stop pumping out genre-films centered on the world’s most famous vampire. And while I’ve never been a huge fan of Dracula, the trailer for The last Voyage of the Demeter had me intrigued, bordering on excited. It looked fresh and compelling, finally bringing a unique vision to the blood-sucking monster in a way that actually might be fun. It’s “Dracula on a boat” for God’s sake, what’s not fun about that? Well, unfortunately this is a case of the trailer being better than the film, and there isn’t a drop of fun to be had.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter Plot

As a merchant ship makes its way from Carpathia to London carrying a private shipment of various wooden boxes, the crew quickly realizes that the cargo holds a deadly and terrifying beast. One by one, the men are picked off by the seemingly unstoppable creature with an unquenchable thirst for blood. Based on the seventh chapter of Bram Stoker’s classic 1897 novel Dracula, The Last Voyage of the Demeter delivers a new vision of the world’s most famous vampire.

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The Critique

Why is it that we’ve received countless adaptations of Dracula while the far superior monster, The Gill-man from The Creature From The Black Lagoon, has remained relatively untouched since its classic run back in the 1950’s? The cinematic allure of vampires is undeniable. They’re typically depicted as suave, wealthy and handsome men who use their charm and decades of experience to lure their unsuspecting victims. They’re womanizers with sex-appeal, and sex sells; however, I’ve always preferred my monsters to be grotesque abominations. The type of thing that strikes fear into a man’s heart just seconds before it rips it out of his chest. In that regard, Demeter delivers. Well, partially.

Visually, the film is a success, weaving a blanket of stormy seas, moonlit nights and a surprisingly believable monster. It’s all the right ingredients for a moody, period piece set on the ocean; however, the film sinks its own ship by taking itself far too seriously and failing to indulge in the monstrous mayhem that fans want. The gore is minimal, the characters are bland and the story relies on jump-scares alone to elicit a response from its audience.

When Dracula is not on screen, all momentum the film is building comes to a screeching halt. Unfortunately, his appearances are mostly brief and incredibly sporadic, delivering a whip-lash inducing pace of alternating dullness and action. The biggest issue — aside from the pacing — is a fundamental failure to make its human characters interesting. A fantastic cast, including Corey Hawkins, Liam Cunningham and David Dastmalchian, are wasted on a script that gives them nothing to do and little reason for us to care about them.

In Conclusion

I appreciate what The Last Voyage of the Demeter set sail to accomplish. It was a valiant effort bogged down by self-indulgence and a hesitation to go over-the-top. Still, it’s a better Dracula film than anything we’ve gotten since Coppola tried his hand at it. For the record, I don’t consider that version a significant achievement either. But looking at 2020’s The Invisible Man gives hope that perhaps a less saturated Universal monster can be adapted for a modern audience… *cough* The Gill-man *cough*.

5/10

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