Based on a single chilling chapter from Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula, this movie tells the terrifying story of the merchant ship Demeter, which was chartered to carry private cargo from Carpathia to London. Strange events befall the crew as they are stalked each night by a merciless presence onboard the ship.
Based on a couple of pages of content, there was always the risk of Voyage of Demeter being another The Hobbit, something dragged out, far beyond its means. To an extent, it is, on the other hand, Demeter is only restricted by a single story point; reaching London. This provides screenwriters Bragi F. Schut and Zak Olkewicz carte blanche to do whatever they wanted with this well-known character.
To fully enjoy this film, you need to remove everything that you remember of Dracula. There is no sophisticated European white man mesmerizing his victims, and no transforming into tiny bats. Prior knowledge will actually be the audience's downfall as you start to overanalyze how the impending victims are (or aren't) reacting to this vampiric threat. Had the film avoided the name Dracula in the title, and left its foreshadowing to the end of the film, it would have been able to avoid the baggage that comes with the expansive franchise.
Because in reality, Voyage of the Demeter is a chilling nautical period horror. The vampire genre has been heavily romanticized and diluted in the entertainment industry (just look at Twilight, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, or Buffy) and it is refreshing to have a shift in the character, to bring a more animalistic, instinctual, and savage creature to this feature.
Narratively, Voyage of Demeter is quite weak, but it doesn't really need to be strong. Its own cast of characters largely are undeveloped and have the role of simple cannon fodder. Realistically it's more appealing this way, as the characters that are developed, feel forced and unnecessarily bringing racism, sexism, and classism into this horror flick. The creature feature succeeds on its creature; the power it has, the kills it makes, and the escapes of its victims.
Demeter has a great creature. With a heavy focus on practical make-up and effects, there is a grounded and real feel to our creature antagonist. The dedication to practical effects contributes significantly to the film's eerie atmosphere. It's hard not to appreciate the intricate detail that has gone into crafting the monster. In notes not dissimilar to Alien, our main creature, isn't overly present in the first two acts, instead, picking off its victims from the outskirts and stalking in the darkness. Our cast are trapped on a vessel, unable to escape, cut off from the rest of the world, fighting for survival, and it works great to build suspense and tension.
What doesn't help with the suspense and tension, is how the cast work around the nocturnal nature of the creature. The film surges and recedes as the crew cycle between attacks at night and the creature disappearing during the day. There are some ways to overcome the presence of the sun, but the writers did manage to bring some creative distractions to the issue.
In the realm of horror cinema, the key to an immersive and spine-tingling experience lies in establishing a set of rules that the audience can rely upon. Unfortunately, Demeter falls short in this crucial aspect, creating a jarring disconnect that significantly diminishes viewer engagement. There are some unnecessary and illogical choices made by all parties for the sake of aesthetics, and it leads to the film feeling inconsistent. The disregard for consistent rules often leads to a disjointed narrative progression. Scenes that should have created heart-pounding terror instead bring head-scratching confusion due to the lack of coherence in the established horror elements.
Where the film starts to fall short is in putting all these ingredients together into a single narrative, complete with individual character arcs and a believable payoff. Sometimes the plot holds together while at other times the characters, including Dracula, simply make choices because the film decided they should, or because it would be creepy for something to happen despite an apparent flimsiness to the rules the film has established.
Dracula: Voyage of Demeter displayed a promising and innovative approach to the Dracula mythos, offering a breath of fresh air to the genre. Unfortunately, the film's own anticipation to label itself a Dracula movie and its decision to reveal the threat from the start thread through early foreshadowing, hindered its journey towards greatness. This reimagining had the potential to captivate audiences with its savage perspective, but the upfront reveal robbed viewers of the suspenseful intrigue that could have elevated it to new heights.
Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter is in cinemas from August 10, 2023