The Last Voyage of The Demeter brings Dracula back to the forefront as an atmospheric horror icon. The film takes place during a chapter of the Dracula novel and places the King of Darkness in the middle of the ocean. It is an adaptation of “The Captain’s Log”, a chapter from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. The film stars Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, and David Dastmalchian.

The film has a great way of building atmosphere and has the audience dreading when night falls. You wait for each member of the crew to be picked off one by one by Dracula and the small screen time we get for the vampire is enough. It’s also amazing to see what they were able to do with some practical effects for the monster. Javier Botet plays the character of Dracula and deserves some recognition for the terrifying performance.

The rest of the cast with Corey Hawkins and David Dastmalchian in particular are outstanding. They really carry the film in moments where it feels like it starts to drag a bit. It’s the minor issues with pacing that I didn’t enjoy from the movie; I feel it could have been shorter. I don’t think it’s that big of an issue however when coupled with the effective scares and performances. Andre Ovredal also effectively creates some very tense moments and downright terrifying imagery. The production of some scenes in particular caught me off guard on how visceral they were. A great addition to the filmography of an already great horror director. I really enjoyed seeing some very iconic vampire tropes play out but won’t spoil them here.

Overall, The Last Voyage of The Demeter is a great start to what seems will be a new universe. The cast is brilliant, the effects and production are top notch, and the direction that Andre leads it in also is incredible. I did have issues with the pacing, but the rest of the great elements bring it back for me. I am excited to see where they want to take this story as the ending left me wanting to see more of this universe.

We give The Last Voyage of The Demeter a 3.5 out of 5.