Movie Review: ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’ is an entertaining adaptation

By Connor Webber

If I had a penny for every time a Dracula movie was released in 2023, I’d have two pennies. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s still weird that Universal Pictures decided to release not one, but two movies based on the story of Dracula in 2023: “Renfield,” and “The Last Voyage of the Demeter.” But the part that bothers me most is, according to rumors Universal is still attempting to jumpstart another try at the “Dark Universe.”

It appears with two unrelated Dracula movies with drastically different tones, the studio might have no clear direction of what they want to do with their classic monsters. So, walking into “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” as I’m sure most people will, I had very low expectations, and due to those low expectations, I walked out thoroughly surprised.

Let me be clear: “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” is nothing special. In fact, the only thing truly special about it is that the entire film is based on a very brief entry of the novel Dracula, and the impressive set production. Much of the film takes place on the Demeter (a massive ship they seemingly built in its entirety), and since it’s a horror movie, the set makes for some very intense close-quarter sequences. Click here to tour the Demeter virtually.

At times, the film seemed to think it was smarter than it was. There were moments where characters who are educated doctors made some of the dumbest decisions I’ve ever seen in a horror movie; just cliché horror. They also tried to shoehorn a message towards the end of the film, which was set up but was never fleshed out enough to have a lasting impact.

For the most part, the performances seem phoned in. No one is bad, but no one stands out. It was nice to see Liam Cunningham as Captain Eliot (who most people know as Sir Davos in “Game of Thrones”) play another ship captain, but even he didn’t shine too brightly.

The same goes for Corey Hawkins as Clemons (“The Walking Dead”) and David Dastmalchian as Wojchek (“The Dark Knight”). I know both are strong actors, but they give little variation in their performances.

The monster was cool; I wasn’t really sold on the look of Dracula at first, but by the end of the film, I liked it. The film had the chance to be repetitive, but has a progression that keeps your attention.

At the end of the day, “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” is one of the horror films I think many people will enjoy, specifically based on the setting. It’s not genre-defying, and I don’t think it will make nearly enough money to justify continuing this iteration of Dracula.

SCORE: 3/5

“The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” is rated R and hits theaters on Aug.11, 2023. There is no post-credit scene.

Dracula In the Parks

Since “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” is a Universal film and Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights is right around the corner, I couldn’t help but wonder whether it would make for a good house. We obviously know “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” won’t be making an appearance this year, but after seeing the film, I will say my interest is piqued to see if they do a house based on this film next year as the environment and close quarters of the Demeter would make for a unique Halloween Horror Nights house.

We have seen many different versions of Dracula at past events (and let’s not forget a land dedicated to Universal’s classic monsters expected at Universal’s Epic Universe). Most recently, Dracula was seen in “Universal Monsters: Legends Collide” at Halloween Horror Nights last year.

Check out our POV video from that house here: