The Last Voyage of the Demeter: A Fun Creature Feature

We see none of Dracula’s faux-humanity or the charm we know he’s capable of. In exchange, we get some brutal and imaginative kills that are the film’s best moments.

Magic Symbol: Incense
The crew aboard the ill-fated Demeter are in trouble in The Last Voyage of the Demeter, in theaters now.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is in theaters, and yes, it’s another Dracula movie. However, it revisits Bram Stoker’s classic gothic horror novel from an exciting angle. Directed by André Øvredal (The Autopsy of Jane Doe), The Last Voyage of the Demeter turns “The Captain’s Log” chapter of Dracula into a feature-length film.

Dracula (1897) “Captain’s Log” Refresher

While other Dracula movies like Renfield (2023) have been filled with comic relief, The Last Voyage of the Demeter sees Dracula as a purely scary monster.

In Stoker’s novel, “The Captain’s Log” chapter focuses on a bundle of papers chronicling the ship Demeter’s ill-fated voyage from Varna to Whitby. For anyone who needs a quick refresher: Demeter set sail on July 6th, and everything was peaceful until a crewmember mysteriously vanished on July 16th. Reports of a gaunt and unfamiliar man led to a search of the ship the next day, but no one found him. The unexplainable disappearances continued over the next 17 days until only the Captain and his mate were left.

Frightened by something he witnessed in the cargo hold, the mate eventually threw himself overboard amidst one of the worst storms on record. The Captain, crucifix in hand, tied himself to the wheel, and this is how officials found his corpse when the Demeter washed ashore.

How ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’ is Different

The film adaptation comes off as a creature feature, which makes perfect sense, considering it partly takes inspiration from Ridley Scott’s Alien. The Count’s portrayal is similar to Murnau’s Nosferatu but more monstrous. We see none of Dracula’s faux-humanity or the charm we know he’s capable of. In exchange, we get some brutal and imaginative kills that are the film’s best moments.

Corey Hawkins and Aisling Franciosi in The Last Voyage of the Demeter.

Corey Hawkins (The Walking Dead) plays a doctor aboard the Demeter named Clemens, adding some welcomed Black representation. Aisling Franciosi (Game of Thrones) also joins the cast as Anna, a woman found in one of the mysterious crates of soil in the cargo hold. In the novel, Dracula travels with the Transylvanian Earth because he needs it to regenerate. Other cast includes Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) as the Captain and David Dastmalchian (The Boogeyman) as Wojchek, the First Mate.

The decision to flesh out the characters from The Captain’s Log helped turn it into a fun popcorn creature feature. The result is something worth seeing for Dracula fans, old and new. The Last Voyage of the Demeter is in theaters now.

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Meet The Author

Ryan a.k.a. Brother Ghoulish is a horror content creator and author of There’s Something Wrong in Morrington County, a QPOC-lead horror short story collection.