Interesting for its first hour, THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER has some bite for Dracula fans but runs a little long in the fang during its second hour.
This attempt to expand the Captain's log in Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" looks and sounds terrific, dropping you into another time with bloody great visuals.
As the film opens, villagers are bringing 50 crates from the Count's castle to the dockyard, preparing them for their voyage to London and Carfax Abbey, where all of the action of the Dracula story we know takes place.
Corey Hawkins (In The Heights, Straight Outta Compton) is very good as Clemens, a young doctor anxious to board the ship for its trip to London. Liam Cunningham (so good as Davos in "Game of Thrones") brings class and power to his role of Captain Eliot, short on crew and recruiting locals for the voyage. After Clemens saves his grandson Toby from danger, the Captain gives Clemens passage. Toby is well played by stellar young actor Woody Norman, who did a terrific job in the recent horror film, "Cobweb". Norman is incredibly talented for his age.
The ship isn't on the water long before mysterious, graphic and bloody murders begin on board. First the animals on board are slaughtered, leaving little food for our Count beyond the passengers.
Aisling Franciosi (Game of Thrones) is good as Anna, a girl found in the lower decks near death. Jon Jon Briones (Miss Saigon on Broadway) is very good as Joseph, the ship's cook, as is David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad, Dune) as first mate Wojchek.
Acting is top notch across the board as the mysterious deaths continue and evil wraps the entire boat like a demonic fog. The music score by Bear McCreary (Godzilla: King of the Monsters) is exactly what you want for the horror atmosphere, creeping around and occasionally scaring you.
So is it scary? No, its creepy and gory but never really scary.
This is the first Dracula film I've ever seen where you never get a glimpse of him in his human form. The seductive Frank Langella days are long gone. The count's look is a strong tribute to F.W. Murnau's original Count Orlok,"Nosferatu". 70's TV fans should also see plenty of resemblance to Mr. Barlow from 1979's "Salem's Lot".
It's a cool creature and the closeups of those teeth late in the film are fun. Full wings and the ability to fly never hurt your ability to soar up and sink your teeth in victims from behind, either.
This certainly isn't the worst Dracula movie I've seen and at least for it's first half or so, it held my interest as the mysteries of the voyage are revealed. Hawkins and Cunningham are both terrific, lifting the film up around them.
But the second half grows repetitive and the ship-bound action starts to slow down. The ending's not bad and any horror flick with infected folks spontaneously combusting in the sunshine earns my scary movie appreciation.
With a $45 million budget from Universal/Dreamworks, this vamp entry bombed hard at the box office, earning only $16 million worldwide.
This is Universal's second bloodsucker flick to die in theaters in 2023. If you're going to watch one of them, make it "Renfield".
THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER creaks and groans its way to a bloody C, bleeding out after an interesting first half.
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