The Last Voyage of the Demeter Review

The Last Voyage of the Demeter review.

Despite excellent production values and a game cast, The Last Voyage of the Demeter fails to justify its existence.

New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter

Directed by André Øvredal

Screenplay by Bragi F. Schut and Zak Olkewicz

Starring Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian Woody Norman, Chris Walley and Javier Botet

The Last Voyage of the Demeter Review

The story of Dracula has been told and retold too many times to count. We’ve seen it from silent films to television series. We’ve seen it parodied and set in different eras. The truth is most of the interpretations of Bran Stoker’s novel aren’t that great. The Last Voyage of the Demeter sets out to try something a little bit different. That’s the good news. Its singular focus on Dracula’s journey across the sea to the shores of England shines a light on an aspect of his story that most productions gloss over. Unfortunately, as it turns out, they did so for good reason.

If you’ve read the original text…the entirety of The Last Voyage of the Demeter covers one chapter. Chapter 7 for specificity. It is comprised of the Captain’s Log accounting a doomed voyage to England. The Demeter sets sail without knowledge of what is in the cargo they are charged with transporting. Or, more accurately, who is in the cargo.

Last Voyage of the Demeter wastes no time in letting you know that you are watching something with a (mostly) fixed ending. The film not only begins with text explaining that the ship ran ashore with no survivors…but the first scene in the movie takes place during the discovery of the Demeter. The text is restated to ensure that there is no way you can miss that everything you are about to watch will end with a ghost ship on the banks of England.

It’s an interesting tactic…but ultimately a meaningless one in a few ways. There are three ways to take the information:

1. You are familiar with the material already so there is nothing spoiled anyway.

2. You know nothing about the story of Dracula (or at least chapter 7) so the movie spoils itself immediately.

3. They hammer it so hard, and you’ve seen any story told before ever…so it’s a misdirect and someone is going to survive the journey somehow.

The best-case scenario in beginning the story in the aftermath of the voyage would be in delivering a fun movie full of crazy kills. Since you’ve already been told everyone on board doesn’t make it to the shore on this ship…the movie should want you to be excited about how they don’t make it. The set-up is unmistakable. This should be a slasher movie.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter does not deliver the best-case scenario. Not only do we know what becomes of the ship…it doesn’t have much fun showing what becomes of its crew. Frankly, it’s kind of boring. There are a few interesting moments…but they are too few and far between for a two-hour adaptation of a single chapter of text.

That said, it does do some things right. This is a gorgeously shot movie. Production values are very high, and the camera provides some genuinely beautiful looks at Demeter’s voyage. There’s an old school feel…befitting a very old school story. It would have been nice to see a full production of Dracula with the production quality on display here. It would have also helped fill out that bloated run-time.

The cast is very strong as well. From Liam Cunningham’s (Dog Soldiers) Captain Elliot to David Dastmalchian (Boston Strangler, The Boogeyman) as his first mate…there is plenty of gravitas brought to the proceedings. Corey Hawkins serves as our lead character, Clemens. Clemens is a doctor looking to make sense of the world, and our way into a group of otherwise similarly minded characters. He’s an outsider to their world…but he’s far from the only one to crash the party.

That brings us to Demeter’s true cargo. We already know that Dracula is going to emerge from his literal dirt nap…but he isn’t the only one. Last Voyage of the Demeter adds another character to the mix to provide the necessary exposition. The three outsiders on the ship are easily the most interesting characters here. Unfortunately, Dracula isn’t used to his full potential. He looks menacing as he swoops in to deliver quick, bloody deaths…but there is no attempt to make him a fully formed character here. Played by excellent physical actor Javier Botet (Insidious: The Last Key, Amigo) …the character was capable of so much more than he is given here.

It’s unfortunate that such a beautiful looking and well performed movie has so few interesting moments. The movie is never scary. It doesn’t take any joy in its pre-told reckoning. It reduces its famed antagonist to an underdeveloped obstacle. There were multiple avenues available to deliver a fun and memorable horror ride. The Last Voyage of the Demeter doesn’t take any of them. Instead, like the Demeter itself, it inexplicably holds course.

Scare Value

There’s a reason that the damned voyage of the Demeter was limited to one chapter in Bram Stoker’s novel. Stretching out the material for two hours proves to be a mistake in The Last Voyage of the Demeter. It’s very well made, and the cast came to play…but, like the titular ship…this movie was doomed before it ever set sail. It just isn’t very exciting. If you enjoy a slowly unfolding story that you (basically) already know the ending to…there is a good-looking picture to take in at least.

2.5/5