It’s “Dracula on a Boat.” Not on a cruise ship or on a pontoon boat, both of which might yield more interesting results than “The Last Voyage of Demeter,” a stiff tale of the count’s journey by sea from Romania to the shores of England in the late 1800s.
Here, the undead creature terrorizes the crew on a shipping vessel on the high seas, sucking their blood one by one as the ship clips along. But there’s never much life to the passengers to begin with, as “Demeter” plods forward, and viewers feel as trapped on board as the poor saps waiting to meet their fate.
Corey Hawkins, who played Dr. Dre in “Straight Outta Compton,” stars as Clemens, a doctor who boards the Demeter as it ships off from port. He’s joined by Elliot (Liam Cunningham from “Game of Thrones”), the ship’s captain, first mate Wojchek (David Dastmalchian) and several others, mostly bearded sea types who aren’t long for the world.
Strange things are afoot on board the Demeter as soon as it sets sail. The livestock are inexplicably slaughtered, and a woman, Anna (“The Nightingale’s” Aisling Franciosi) is discovered on board, nearly dead. Clemens brings her back to life, much to the dismay of the others, and she starts making eerie declarations of the “he is on board!” type, stopping short of saying quite who he is.
It’s Nosferatu of course, but the movie — based on “The Captain’s Log” chapter from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula” — sure takes its time arriving at the inevitable. The reveal is slow, and once he’s out (Javier Botet plays the bloodsucker, when he’s not rendered digitally), “Demeter” becomes episodic, as Drac attacks at night, the crew spends the daylight hours figuring out what happened to so-and-so and night falls again.
Norwegian director André Ovredal works with handsome production design on board the ship, but “Demeter” never feels like anything but a doomed voyage. The violence is mostly rendered at night, the gory kills either in shadows or otherwise obscured.
A sequel is teased at the end, because of course it is, but there’s not enough life in this story to warrant its continued telling. Abandon ship.
Graham reviews movies for The Detroit News.
‘THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER’
2 out of 4 stars.
MPA rating: R (for bloody violence)
Running time: 1 hour, 58 minutes.
How to watch: In theaters now.
