Adapting Dracula is not something that has ever been done seamlessly. In the 127 years since it’s publication, in what is likely hundreds of adaptations and retellings between stage plays, films, and novels, there is no adaptation that has truly followed the story from beginning to end. There are many reasons for this, as what worked in a novel in 1897 may not work in a modern day film, but adapting the full story is never what The Last Voyage of the Demeter set out to do, anyway. They are adapting a single chapter.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter is just what it says in the title: it is the story of the ship Demeter as it carries cargo from Carpathia to London, and in the process, becomes a nightmare for the crewmen on board. It chiefly follows Corey Hawkins in the role of Clemens, a doctor who joined the ship at the start of the journey and quickly becomes caught in the middle of the struggle to come.
One of the most difficult parts of telling a story that is, from the start, open about the fact that there are no survivors, is that you still want the audience to care for your cast. You want the deaths to hit despite the fact that they are already being braced for. And in this respect, the film succeeds. All it takes is a strong cast and a solid script for them to work from. The aforementioned Corey Hawkins shines in his role as the ship’s doctor and a man of reason, struggling to reconcile the evidence of the supernatural with the logic he’s holds tight to. Other standout performances come from David Dastmalchian as Wojchek, the ship’s first mate who attempts to maintain order throughout the voyage, and Woody Norman in the role of Toby, the captain’s grandson and the only child aboard the Demeter.
Each member of the Demeter’s crew may fulfill a familiar archetype, be it from the horror genre in general or in other stories of seafaring men, but ultimately, the performances by this cast round them out into something that feels much more real. There is a sense that these men have worked together for a very long time, and that there is more to their lives than this single voyage. And then you begin to watch as they get picked off, one by one.
The films more solid scares are when they play more intimately with this cast. Stuck on a tight ship, isolated on a stormy sea, there is plenty of opportunity to create an environment that feels claustrophobic. Though these are not always taken, there are still wonderfully dreadful moments awaiting the viewer. Some of the best even happen in the light of day.
Where this film thrives the most, however, is in it’s sound design. That should come as no surprise when you begin with a score composed by Bear McCreary, who is responsible for, among others, the award-winning scores for the video games God of War and God of War Ragnarok, the title theme to Black Sails, and the score to 2019’s Godzilla: King of Monsters. Intense, full of thematic strings and playing often with the feeling of being on a creaking ship out at sea, this film could not have asked for a better backing to tie it together.
And the score isn’t where the sound design ends, either. The attention of detail paid to the acoustics of the ship, from the way the storage hold is home to quiet echos to the way ever-present sea sloshes against the ship, comes together to create a deeply immersive atmosphere. A gimmick introduced early on in the film even plays with sound; Toby, while cheerfully giving a tour to the ship’s new doctor, tells him that he can knock on the hold at any time to communicate with other crew across the ship. One of the highlights of seeing this film when it was screening in theaters was being able to hear this knock echo, front to back, all the way down the ship, and knowing it would return to haunt us.
One common complaint from audiences of modern horror are that the films are, visually, too dark. In a way that fails to create atmosphere and instead hinders the viewing experience, creating an image that can hardly be parsed. This is not a complaint that could be found with The Last Voyage of the Demeter. Light and shadow are constantly at play through this film, found largely in the stark differences between the warm safety of lamplight and the cold, blue-tinted darkness at it’s edges. These contrasts often create something beautiful, even when there is danger lurking in the dark.
Stepping into the role of that danger is Javier Botet. Dracula is far from the first time that Botet has been the movie monster; from The Conjuring 2’s Crooked Man to some of the ghosts of Crimson Peak, he is no stranger to playing the supernatural. Dracula, in this film, takes a more animalistic approach. He is a creature that is desperate, and hungry, and has little time to toy with his food. It would seem he does retain some of his personality in the way he lures in or taunts his victims, which are the highlight moments of his kills.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter is, overall, an adaptation worthy of the haunting chapter of Dracula that it takes the bones of it’s story from. Clemens is a character that feels as if he could have been a part of the Dracula canon from the start, and the story he belongs to no less so. With a powerful score and a strong core cast, the Demeter’s final trip is a voyage worth taking, especially on a stormy afternoon.
