The Last Voyage of the Demeter is based on a chapter from “Dracula”, the 1897 novel from Irish author Bram Stoker. The chapter of the book that it is taken from is called “The Captain’s Log”, about a journey at sea. I have always been fascinated by stories or movies taking place at sea. In fact, the sea excels as a form of terror, because it’s just naturally a scary place, especially at night. Unfortunately, The Last Voyage of the Demeter’s faithfulness to Bram Stoker’s novel is mediocre, as is the film in general.

The ship on which The Last Voyage of the Demeter is set is a merchant ship called the Demeter. The people on board the ship include Clemens (played by Corey Hawkins), Anna (played by Aisling Franciosi), Captain Elliot (played by Liam Cunningham), Wojchek (played by David Dastmalchian), Abrams (played by Chris Walley), Joseph (played by Jon Jon Brione), and more. The ship’s mission is to deliver wooden crates from Carpathia to London. But the crates have a demonic-looking symbol that represents Dracula. Daytime on the ship is safe, but at night danger erupts for everyone on board. Nothing can protect the passengers from the demons that may arise from the crates they have on their ship.

There are hints to explain why there are monsters jumping into the film, but there is no clear background or indications as to why the terror is evolving. The film gives a brief introduction, cuts to the voyage, and the haunting begins. With this being based Stoker’s “Dracula”, I wish there was more background on Dracula to add to the excitement. There is no explanation his creation, his evolvements, his relationships, or his terrors. Dracula just shows up to eat those he craves—the people who are trying to kill him. It’s a fight to the finish for the passengers on the voyage, but are they equipped for the task?

The symbolism in The Last Voyage of the Demeter is one invigorating component of the film. The evil symbols on the boxes initiates a terror response from viewers. And this terror becomes increasingly enticing at night, bringing a certain level of cinematic joy, although the shock value decreases as the same sorts of terrors occur and the film becomes repetitive.

The amazing lighting and cinematography was also a plus for The Last Voyage of the Demeter. The film truly had great technical components throughout its spooky adventure. This gave the film the look of a brilliant horror film, but that doesn’t make up for what it lacked in depth. The writing and directing just failed to find the originality of Stoker’s Dracula, and failed to create an enticing experience for fans of Stoker. Instead, it relied on violence and monsters going crazy for viewing pleasure. I’m not a fan of that approach. I think that background and motive increases the shock values in a horror film, especially with a character as interesting as Dracula.

Is Dracula scary? It was in brief elements, but then it just goes awry and heads down a mediocre rabbit hole. My view is that it just wasn’t adventurous enough in its writing or directing. So I’m very much neutral and was just not very impressed with the film. I regret having to say that, but I just did not find the film as pleasing as I was hoping. Two and a half out of four stars for The Last Voyage of the Demeter.