For all its gothic charm, The Last Voyage of the Demeter fails to deliver a well-rounded story, offering only a snapshot of Bram Stoker’s novel. It’s a film that ultimately doesn’t seem to care about Dracula or Stoker’s narrative arc, using him as a mere demon who hides in darkness rather than embracing the complex character of Stoker’s novel. The Last Voyage of the Demeter screened at FrightFest 2024 and is now available on DVD, Digital and Blu-ray.
It took many years for The Last Voyage of the Demeter to reach global screens in 2023, and it has yet to arrive in British cinemas as planned. Therefore, this year’s special FrightFest screening may be your only chance to see it on the big screen.
In its initial development stages, The Last Voyage of the Demeter had many names attached, from Viggo Mortensen and Ben Kingsley to directors ranging from Neil Marshall to Robert Schwentke, eventually ending up in the hands of André Øvredal (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark). It’s easy to see why this production hit so many buffers on its way to the screen. The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a two-hour adaptation of a single chapter in Bram Stoker’s classic novel, Dracula, and this raises a significant challenge as it slices away the story surrounding the fateful journey in favour of a sea-bound horror that never feels complete.
The year is 1897, and the Demeter is about to set sail from Transylvania to London under the control of Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham) and his first mate, Wojchek (David Dastmalchian). Along for the ride is Eliot’s grandson Toby (Woody Norman) and a small crew of men who aren’t afraid, like some locals, of the mysterious cargo of large crates being sent to London.
Meanwhile, Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a doctor looking for a passage to London, earns his seat after saving Toby from a falling crate before the ill-fated vessel leaves the harbour. Not long into the journey, one of the many crates gives up its secret: a young stowaway (Aisling Franciosi) who appears to have had large amounts of blood drained from her veins. Clemens immediately takes the girl under his protection and care, performing several blood transfusions to help rebuild her strength. But what Clemens doesn’t know is that the girl was the equivalent of a warm, packed lunch for a sleeping monster, who is now very much awake and eager to feed.
Screenwriters Bragi F. Schut and Zak Olkewicz build their feature-length film around Mina’s journal and the captain’s log, expanding and re-imagining Stoker’s single chapter while attempting to honour his vision. It’s a tricky balancing act that sees them focus on the hunter and the hunted in a movie that could easily be labelled as Alien at sea. However, while this expanded and reimagined tale holds moments of brilliance due to the performances and Øvredal’s assured direction, there is one hurdle the film cannot overcome: meaning and purpose.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter offers no meaningful prologue to the fateful voyage, leaving audience members unfamiliar with Bram Stoker’s novel in limbo from the outset as they attempt to understand Dracula’s reasons for heading to London in a crate. There is an attempt to create a short epilogue, but this ultimately does little to provide any answers and leaves the audience hanging.
Too often, Øvredal’s film feels like the middle film of a trilogy with no opening chapter, creating a frustrating viewing experience. Visually, The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a treat, a throwback to classic period horror. At the same time, performances effortlessly create an atmosphere of inescapable and impending doom, with Øvredal ratcheting up the tension before engulfing us in waves of expertly timed jump scares.
However, for all its gothic charm, The Last Voyage of the Demeter fails to deliver a well-rounded story, offering only a snapshot of Bram Stoker’s novel. It’s a film that ultimately doesn’t seem to care about Dracula or Stoker’s narrative arc, using him as a mere demon who hides in darkness rather than embracing the complex character of Stoker’s novel. Øvredal’s movie may offer just enough jump scares and thrills to entertain, but it fails to honour the story’s roots and, in turn, becomes an enjoyable but incomplete gothic horror that never allows Dracula’s teeth to shine.
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