Perhaps one of the best horror films released in 2023, The Last Voyage of the Demeter didn’t get a fair run on the big screen. Playing in a limited number of theaters and lost among a sea of other releases, the Demeter only made about half of its budget back making it a box office bomb. That said, the Demeter is one of the best vampire movies in quite a while and is horridly underrated.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter is the film adaptation of a chapter from the novel Dracula that has rarely been more than mentioned in other adaptations. The Demeter is the ship which arrives in London harbor with its crew dead. The idea to take this chapter and give it a life of its own is nothing short of brilliant. It has the feeling of a period piece, low tech version of Alien with a very monstrous Dracula picking off the ship’s crew one by one. The writing, pacing, and certainly cast all truly deliver.
Liam Cunningham’s performance as the ship’s captain is spot on perfect. The narration of the log at times during the film adds greatly to the intended feel and atmosphere. Corey Hawkins and David Dastmalchian don’t slack in their roles either both managing to make their characters likeable and easy to relate to.
While the Demeter isn’t the best vampire film ever made, it does live up to everything one expects from such a movie, serving up plenty of jump scares and gore while its creature effects are nothing short of awesome. If you’re a horror fan or just someone who is tired of seeing Dracula always portrayed as a romantic figure, then The Last Voyage of the Demeter is more than worth checking out.
