I get why it took 20 long years for The Last Voyage of the Demeter to get released. The Captain’s log must have mentioned there’s so much diversity on board the ship, that the movie couldn’t be made until the current year. It all makes sense now.
This feels like a made-for-TV movie and not an actual feature film. Thankfully the movie was able to shoehorn racism into the characters. For a moment it almost wasn’t an issue. To be fair, it’s not shoved down our throats like most Hollywood movies, but the fact that it’s brought up is typical at this point. It’d be nice if modern movies could have black characters and race not be mentioned, for a change.
Of course, nothing happens in the movie that really happens in the actual Captain’s log chapter from Dracula. If you’ve read the book, or in some cases listened to it (I like audiobooks), then you’ll know this movie is far different from the source.
From the beginning, it’s clear The Last Voyage of the Demeter is going to be a rocky ride. The movie attempts to weave a narrative around the ill-fated voyage of the Demeter. The ship that carried Count Dracula from Transylvania to England. However, instead of building a coherent and engaging story the movie devolves into a mishmash of scenes and vague references. It’s as if the filmmakers took a handful of horror clichés and threw them at the wall, hoping that something would stick.
One of the most infuriating aspects of the film is its complete lack of character development. The crew members aboard the Demeter are nothing more than cardboard cutouts with no depth or personality. To be fair again, it’s not like the Captain’s logs gave much to go on with their personalities, but that also leaves them open to do so much more with them, and they don’t try. When these characters inevitably meet their gruesome fates, it’s impossible to feel anything meaningful.
I’ve always thought a movie version of what happened on the Demeter, would be great. You’d think it’d be easy to make a compelling story from that chap[ter in the book. The movie should’ve been set up much like John Carpenter’s The Thing. Filling the atmosphere with paranoia and fear from the ship’s crew.
There’s never a feeling of claustrophobia or isolation, which is exactly how we should feel watching this. The Demeter is supposed to be a vessel of terror. A place where the crew members are trapped with an otherworldly evil. Toward the end, a mystical fog covers the ship making for a creepiness not felt for much of the movie. Maybe this is something that should’ve been there the whole time.
Instead, the movie delivers a crew that basically knows what’s going on, but pretends it’s about being cursed by God with no real attachment to religion. None of the character’s belief in God feels authentic. It is used as a gimmick for characters. Also included are stereotypical rain storms, which everyone seems to think is the only way to make movies scarier. It’s all a missed opportunity that only further detracts from any semblance of tension or dread.
One of the most glaring missteps in this cinematic disaster is the film’s treatment of Dracula himself. The Last Voyage of the Demeter reduces the iconic vampire to little more than a giant bat creature for the entirety of the movie. Granted, the logs don’t mention much of him other than a strange man, but they could’ve left it as such. Treat the whole situation more like Jaws, less is more.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter could’ve delivered a fresh take on the classic horror tale of Dracula, but what unfolded was a disappointing mess that failed to capture the essence of the source material, by straying almost completely away from it. The movie squanders the opportunity to explore the psychological terror that Dracula is known for, trading it for cheap creature feature thrills that fail to leave any lasting impact.
Arguably one of the worst interpretations of Dracula on film, and I say that as someone that has watched Emmanuelle vs. Dracula.
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