REVIEW: The Last Voyage of the Demeter

Get my honest opinion of The Last Voyage of the Demeter on Universally Me.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a new supernatural horror film based on a chapter from Bram Stoker’s classic novel, Dracula, taking place on the ship that transports Dracula from Transylvania to England. So many Dracula’s retell these grand Dracula stories, but this movie really hones in on one, specific, less explored part of the journey, and it gives for some good claustrophobic terror, as the animals and crew on board the ship fall prey to our villain.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is directed by Andre Ovredal, who also directed Troll Hunter, The Autopsy of Jane Doe, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. This movie was something like 20 years in the making, and was released August 11, 2023.

Andre Ovredal, director of Troll Hunter, The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and The Last Voyage of the Demeter.

The first thing I’ll tell you, is this is not our Dracula. I mean, maybe it’s yours. To me, Dracula isn’t scary because he looks scary. He’s actually charming, suave, and he lures you in. He’s hypnotic. That’s what makes him so scary!

The Dracula we see in The Last Voyage of the Demeter is feral, animalistic, and scary! A far cry from the charm and sophistication of Bela Lugosi’s Dracula.

But this Dracula … he’s scary looking. Closer to a Nosferatu than a Dracula. And closer still to some other monsters. For Ovredal, he saw Dracula as a 400 year old man, and by the time we see him on the ship, he’s an addict desperate for his fix. He’s fragile, and he’s dangerous. Though Ovredal recognizes Dracula as a sophisticated character, that’s not the Dracula he wanted, and in this movie we see him feral, animalistic. In all honesty, I may have preferred just not to see him at all.

The movie made good use of light and color, and the cast - including Nikolai Nikolaeff, Jon Jon Briones, Martin Furulund, Chris Walley, and Woody Norman - were superb.

One complaint I often have in period pieces like this is there are always so many browns and grays muted colors. So often in these movies they’re made so dark I can hardly see what’s on screen. That’s just personal preference for me. But I appreciated the cinematography in The Last Voyage of the Demeter. The colors were vivid, dark scenes were lit well and made good use of the colors of light and fire. The movie kept me engaged because it was so visually interesting.

I didn’t even talk about the cast, but there’s not a bad actor in the bunch. All in all, Last Voyage of the Demeter is a compelling addition to the Dracula filmography. It respects its source material while still bringing something new to the table - some of it a little too new for me, but we can’t win ‘em all.

Corey Hawkins and Aisling Franciosi star in Last Voyage of the Demeter.

For Dracula fans, The Last Voyage of the Demeter is worth seeing. It finds a unique way to pay homage to Bram Stoker’s novel while managing to chart its own course. (Get it?!) For me, I probably won’t watch it again on any regular cadence, and I don’t package it in my mind with Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, but I’m happy I watched it.

The seas of opinion are vast and varied, and I’m eager to hear your thoughts on The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Did it captivate you with its eerie narrative or did you find yourself missing the charm of the classic Dracula? Dive into the comments below, and let’s discuss.