‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’ Review: Blood on the Water

Horror heads are accustomed to screeching on the display screen, “Don’t go in the basement!” In “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” I discovered myself inclined towards the reverse exclamation: “Just go below deck and kill him already!”

Based on a chapter in Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula,” this squally scary film is ready on a London-bound service provider ship doomed to a bloody routine. Days are secure, however sunset brings the terrorizing thirst of the vessel’s vampire stowaway, who emerges in darkness to chunk a couple of necks earlier than retiring to his makeshift cargo coffin.

The regularity of Dracula’s circadian timetable raises the query: Why doesn’t the crew simply assault round midday? It may have saved the film’s beneficent hero, Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a boatload of hassle.

The film begins as Clemens, a British physician, appeals to Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham) to affix the Demeter’s firm. The solely educated man onboard, Clemens nonetheless proves an in a position deckhand, successful the favor of each the salty first mate, Wojchek (David Dastmalchian), and the captain’s wide-eyed grandson, Toby (Woody Norman).

But “The Last Voyage,” directed by André Ovredal, doesn’t waste time on characterizations. Before lengthy, dangerous omens and creaky floorboards give option to repetitive, swollen set items as Dracula picks off the shipmates one after the other. The script does make time for a feeble feminist gesture — the story’s sole girl can cock a rifle — and a monologue about racism. These efforts to replace the story are about as profitable as these of the sorry crew, whose fates have been written over a century in the past.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Rated R for combating and biting. Running time: 1 hour 58 minutes. In theaters.