The Last Voyage Of The Demeter

Now I should tell you outright that I'm biased. I love Dracula. I love the book, I love the 1931 film starring Bela Lugosi, I love (some of) the Hammer Horror films starring Christopher Lee. So this movie probably got some extra reach with me than it might for the average viewer, but that isn't to say there isn't appeal for the non-fanatic.

“The Demeter” is the ship that carries Dracula (unwittingly) from Transylvania to Whitby in Northern England. This movie is entirely about that trip. It's such an interesting concept because it fleshes out one of the last shreds of the Dracula story not yet focused on in depth. And maybe there's good reason for that. In the book, the whole voyage amounts to just a couple pages, presented as newspaper articles. So there isn't much story to “adapt”, but it left a big chunk of story they could create. And I think it works out great.

The cast is pretty darn good, there aren't any terrible actors in the bunch, a rare victory for the horror genre, and even more so in a horror-period piece. That said though, no one really stands out (with maybe the exception in spurts of Liam Cunningham [of “Game of Thrones” fame], we just don't get enough of him). The character that stands out the most is in fact Dracula. Which is great. We get a lot of Dracula action, especially in the second half. And there are some really excellent shots and sequences that rely on practical effects and an actual actor creepily skulking around the ship. There is still plenty of CGI (still far too much for my liking, especially considering how good their “practical” Dracula looked), but the CGI is decent.

The ship itself is done incredibly well. It looks great and adds an authentic and unique horror atmosphere we don't get a lot of – which of course, is horror on boats. It's really a perfect scenario for scary stuff. Trapped at sea, nowhere to escape to, crew disappearing one by one. It's such an effective idea, which is why it was so impactful even though it was only a few pages in Bram Stoker's original novel in 1897.

This movie isn't going to be discussed in the all-time conversation of greats by any means, but I thought it was a lot of fun and I'll definitely watch it again. It doesn't overstay it's welcome, it's got great pacing and a fun design twist on Dracula (falling somewhere between “Salem's Lot” and “Scooby-Doo”). It wouldn't be hard to imagine this becoming a mainstay Halloween watch for many.

I will say however, there is one moment near the end of the movie that is absolutely 100%, no doubt in my mind completely ripped straight out of Mike Flanagan's “Midnight Mass” series. I found this mostly funny how blatant it was. But the moment also happened to be the best moment in all of “Midnight Mass”, so it's pretty hard to ignore.

All that being said, I really enjoyed “The Last Voyage Of The Demeter”, and it's really funny to see people online calling for a sequel. The sequel exists. It's called “Dracula”.

8/10