The Last Voyage of the Demeter review: An underwhelming ride

“The Captain’s Log,” a chapter in Bram Stoker’s Dracula is being adapted for the big screen in the upcoming film The Last Voyage of the Demeter. The movie hits theaters this weekend, and I share my thoughts on the movie and let you know if it’s worth checking out on the big screen.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter follows the story of a crew who are trying to survive the ocean voyage from Transylvania to London. On their journey, the crew is stalked by a presence on the ship, which is the legendary vampire known as Dracula. The film stars Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, and Javier Botet.

So the movie starts off with the Demeter washing up onto land. We see a group of men that decide to investigate the ship, and they find the Captain’s notes from the ship stating everything that went down and warning them of what might be to come. The film is told from the perspective of them reading the Captain’s notebook, and this is where we move back four weeks earlier as the ship is set to sail.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is not a horror movie by definition

I had moderate expectations when heading into this film as I knew next to nothing about the story and knew that this was labeled a “Horror” movie. Let me set this straight, we’ve come to a day and age where studios seem to have forgotten what a “Horror” movie really is. If we take Wikipedia’s description, it’s “Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.” This movie does none of those things.

I’ll admit that I enjoyed some of the film’s cast, including Corey Hawkins as Clemens and Liam Cunningham as Captain Eliot. Aisling Franciosi and David Dastmalchian are both incredible actors and felt underused in this film. Although the actors play their part for the most part, the script holds them back from breathing life into this underwhelming adventure.

Overall, The Last Voyage of the Demeter is bloated and uninteresting. The story has some strong elements, but the script fails to bring it to life. It needed more gore, killing, and blood, all things you would expect from a Dracula movie. All of this said, I do think this could find a niche market that will enjoy the filmlore the story provides, and for that, I give it a slight recommendation.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter hits theaters on Aug. 11, 2023