'The Last Voyage of the Demeter' Is A Clever Yet Overall Dull Journey
Have you ever seen a movie and wondered to yourself, "Why did they make an entire movie out of this?" The Last Voyage of The Demeter is one of those movies. It's a derivation from Bram Stoker's Dracula. Not to be confused with the 1992 film of the same title starring Gary Oldman in what's arguably his best role. Tagging along with Oldman is a hilariously bad Keanu Reeves butchering an old English accent. For a Dracula film, The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a clever take on a beloved horror novel. But is it clever enough to warrant a feature film? Somewhat.
The setup to Dracula killing everyone is a long one. Like the novel, the plot is established through someone's journal. When the movie begins, we hear the narrated log of someone on board the Demeter. When arranging the crewman for the vessel, a One eyed man notices the markings of a dragon painted on the ship, causing him to ditch the crew before the boat can begin to sail. He warns everyman they're doomed, but they don't listen, laughing off the man who could save their lives if they heed his warnings.
Walking into the film, I wondered how I'd care about a movie featuring a bunch of white guys getting killed. Luckily the film's screenwriters thought of that and included a child and black man. The film's protagonist Clemens (Corey Hawkins), is an ivy league educated doctor whose thirst for geology leads him aboard the Demeter. By no means is the Demeter a ship for the educated. Sadly, a racist world doesn't allow Mr. Clemens to explore the globe the way a man of his intelligence should. Even aboard the Demeter, Celemens is met with vile unnecessary hatred from some of the white men in the crew. Clemens is a sympathetic protagonist who must overcome great odds to be accepted.
Also aboard the ship is a young boy named Toby (Woody Norman). Toby and Clemens get along as both are overlooked—one for being a boy, the other for his skin color. Luckily, Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham) doesn't share the same sentiment as some of his other crew members. Lastly, there's a stowaway young girl. Aisling Franciosi magnificently plays Anna, a young girl who has met Dracula. She knows of him, his evil ways, and how far he'll go to kill. Ms.Franciosi may be the best performance in a movie with solid performances all around for a film you wouldn't expect such good acting from.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter is, by and large, a slasher film. One where you wouldn't expect to care much for the characters as we know their fate before the film even begins. If you've read or know enough about Dracula, you'll know that not a single person makes it back home. So will the young boy die, or the stowaway girl get her blood sucked dry? By adding children to the mix, you add the factor of "are they going to do it?" Without giving much away, you might be surprised.
The film works best when it has its surprises, as it has its highs and its lows. Unfortunately, there are more lows than highs. The Las Voyage of the Demeter is a horror film that, like most slashers, leaves the viewer checking their clock for how far along they are in the film until everyone starts getting killed. Much of the narrative drags through elongated pauses followed by cheap jump scares. The film captures the mystery of Dracula in creature form. We don't know in the context of this film who Dracula is or why he feeds on blood. All we know is that he's a ghoulish-winged creature who kills indiscriminately.
Unfortunately, that creature is brought to life with spotty CGI that looks more like a cartoon than a living, breathing threat. With a long setup and a cheap-looking threat, The Last Voyage of The Demeter is an inventive idea that pays off in the end for its surprises, but that payoff comes a bit too late to leave much interest in the overall film.
