‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’ Review: Corey Hawkins in a Dull Dracula Tale

There’s a reason that Dracula has endured as a figure of fascination for horror filmmakers for more than a century. Bram Stoker’s vampire creation proves endlessly malleable, subject to all sorts of depictions from actors as far afield as Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Frank Langella, Gary Oldman and, most recently, Nicolas Cage. The role is catnip, especially since the Count can be as sexy as he is menacing, as seductive as he is deadly.

That is, until his portrayal in André Ovredal’s Gothic horror film based on a single chapter, “The Captain’s Log,” from Stoker’s 1897 classic novel. As portrayed by Javier Botet, this is a vampire who seems more a feral wild creature than anything resembling a figure who could reasonably pass among human society. He’s one of the viscerally scariest Draculas ever seen onscreen, but he’s also one of the dullest.

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Resembling an elaborate Masterpiece Theatre production filtered through a gory, Hammer Films sensibility, The Last Voyage of the Demeter aims for a high-class veneer in its depiction of the fateful sea crossing in which Dracula’s coffin is transported to London, arriving at its destination with no survivors. (That isn’t a spoiler, by the way, even for those unfamiliar with the story, since that’s how the film begins.)

Cue the flashback featuring narration taken from the ship’s log of Captain Elliot (Liam Cunningham, Game of Thrones), beginning with his efforts to acquire several crew members for the Demeter before it sets sail. Among them is Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a Black man who offers his skills as both an experienced sailor and a doctor. Initially rejected by the ship’s clearly prejudiced first mate Wojchek (David Dastmalchian, Dune), Clemens is hired at the last minute after he rescues the captain’s young grandson Toby (Woody Norman, C’mon C’mon) from being crushed by a falling crate.

It turns out to be a bad career move, since ominous events begin occurring on the Demeter shortly after it departs. All of the ship’s livestock is discovered slaughtered, their necks ripped open by horrific bites. A nearly dead, young female stowaway is found, with Clements nursing her slowly back to health. She’s Anna (Aisling Franciosi, The Nightingale), who has had some previous fateful experience with the malevolent figure onboard. And the crew members start to get picked off one by one, always after the sun has gone down.

Yup, Dracula’s onboard, sleeping during the day in a coffin filled with dirt from his native land. And he takes no prisoners, although the series of violent attacks he perpetrates, only seen in shadow for a few seconds at a time, ultimately feel more repetitive than terrifying. It doesn’t help that the characters seem slow on the uptake, although they gradually get the idea.

“Evil is aboard, powerful evil,” says the ship’s ultra-religious cook (Ratched’s Jon Jon Briones, in a nicely colorful turn). The cook also notices that even the normally plentiful rats onboard seem to have disappeared. “A boat without rats, such a thing is against nature,” he intones. Although you can’t blame the rats for fleeing a sinking ship, or an increasingly tedious horror film.

Director Ovredal is experienced at this sort of offering, having previously helmed such fine genre efforts as Trollhunter, The Autopsy of Jane Doe and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. He handles the darkly creepy atmospherics expertly and makes fully convincing the ship’s fateful voyage through stormy and vampire-besieged seas. But he’s not able to bring much spark to Bragi Schut, Jr. and Zak Olkewicz’s slow-paced, formulaic screenplay, which lacks the dark wit necessary to keep us invested in the gory proceedings. The film’s only sparks are provided by the occasional immolation scenes when one of Dracula’s undead victims is exposed to the sun.

Botet, who plays Dracula, is another specialist in the genre, having previously utilized his uniquely gangly physicality to impressively scary effect in films including Mama, Slender Man, It, REC, and many others. Outfitted with prosthetics, he certainly cuts a terrifying figure even without the occasional CGI augmentation. But his snarling, animal-like creature doesn’t exactly have much personality, feeling so generic that the film could equally serve as an Alien or Predator prequel. He draws plenty of blood, but he doesn’t have much bite.