Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

The Last Voyage of the Demeter 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

"You are in my head. In my blood. You have damned me to hell!"

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown January 12, 2025

Adaptations of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" are wide and varied, but there's one little slice of story that everyone takes a moment to deliver: the doomed voyage of the Demeter, the vessel the vile Count uses to make his way to the homeland of the object of his desire. It's a brief vignette and its concept is simple. Sailors try to survive on a ship that a vampire has made its hunting ground. The Last Voyage of the Demeter aims to transform this slight diversion in Stoker's text into a feature-length film, and the bones are certainly there. If not the blood. But the film tries too hard, adds in too many elements of vampire lore, and ultimately fails to make its force of bestial nature Dracula a full-fledged character, and thus a fully formed threat. Universal Studios originally released the film on Blu-ray shortly after its theatrical run. A year later, the reigns now pass to Shout Factory, who have put together a strong 4K edition worthy of fans' attention.

"You want them to believe that you're a god! You and I both know that you're not! You bleed like any of us! You sleep in dirt! You feed! Above all else, you feed! You want us to... to fear you! Underneath, you're afraid! You're afraid of what lies on the other side as any other living thing!"

The movie opens with the Demeter, a ghost ship, running aground in the English town of Whitby. The local constabulary boards and finds the deceased captain tied to the wheel and the rest of the crew, those they can actually find, horribly murdered. The only clue to the mystery and the carnage is the captain's log, the events of which begin to play out from the selection of the crew to the loading of the strange cargo in Varna, to the doomed sea voyage itself. Liam Cunningham plays Captain Eliot with a fine mix of seriousness, authority, and compassion. He's joined by first mate Wojchek (David Dastmalchian), late addition Dr. Clemens (Corey Hawkins), and stowaway Anna (Aisling Franciosi). Other members of the crew are present, but this core four drives most of the action. Captain Eliot, for his part, remains as stoic and leaderful as he can in the face of increasingly dangerous and supernatural events. Wojcheck reacts as most people likely would, out of fear, mistrust, and desire to take action even if it isn't the right action. Dr. Clemens functions primarily as our film's Van Helsing. He's a man of science who unfortunately has not experienced the world in the way that he thought or hoped it would be. He's on the ship to try to make sense of the world in which he lives, and needless to say, this journey doesn't help in that regard. But as the horror begins to unfold, it's his education and background that enables him to render aid to the crew and methodically investigate exactly what's happening on the Demeter. The bond he forms with the stowaway Anna after nursing her back to health is central to the tension of the film. Her unfortunate background and Clemens' medical skills are able to shed a little light on the evil transpiring onboard...

Click here to read the rest of Justin Dekker's review of the film, which he says "does certainly provide a dangerous new Dracula and a world for further stories which may, likewise, only be partially familiar, as a way to inject new life into a very old character." Adding, "André Øvredal tells a very compelling and darkly atmospheric story that is unique both in terms of its focus and its iteration of Dracula."

The Last Voyage of the Demeter 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

With a meaty bitrate (103.3 Mbps) and a 100GB disc in tow, The Last Voyage of the Demeter sails onto 4K UltraHD with a gorgeous 2160p transfer created from scratch from the original elements. Screen captures don't do the native image upgrade's quality and detailing, nor the richness of color afforded the film by the inclusion of its Dolby Vision enhanced hues. The palette is awash with color, despite the dread and darkness of the visuals. Many a scene takes place below deck and at night, making Demeter a production meant to appear lit by candle and moonlight. Dracula is often cloaked in shadow, as is par for the course, and doesn't reveal his complete, unfurled form until the last few minutes of the film, and even then, only when lightning strikes illuminate the sky and everything below it. Even so, delineation is excellent throughout and, viewed in a suitably dark home theater, the film's sets and production design are showcased in full. Flesh tones are relatively lifelike at all times, blood runs vividly red, black levels are rich and inky, and contrast is dialed in perfectly. There is some crush to contend with, but none of it is the product of a subpar encode (which this definitely is not!) Detailing is terrific too, with razor-wire edge definition, carefully resolved fine textures, and pinpoint clarity. The only time the image falters is when rain and wind batters the ship or when a thick cloud of fog descends and intentionally reduces visibility to near zero. Moreover, banding, blocking and other compression issues are nowhere to be found, and only a scant few instances of fleeting artifacts are visible in the third act. By the way they appear when CG is filling the screen, I'm going to wager they too have nothing to do with the encode and everything to do with the original FX source. All told, The Last Voyage of the Demeter is never going to look better than it does here.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 4K release of The Last Voyage of the Demeter features the same Dolby Atmos track as its Universal Studios predecessor. Justin Dekker writes "the soundtrack does a wonderful job transporting us to the deck and the cabins of the Demeter, surrounding us with the ship's creaking, the sounds of the waves, and the howls of the inhuman Dracula (and his victims!). Gunshots are excellently rendered and the rumblings of the storms are very satisfying and feed the feeling of impending doom. Bear McCreary, the man behind the music in so many projects like The Walking Dead, Black Sails, and Battlestar Galactica (just to name a few), provides an excellent score that supports the ever-increasing desperation of the Demeter's doomed crew. Dialogue is crisp, clean, and intelligible even in the film's most quiet and intimate moments."

The Last Voyage of the Demeter 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

God bless Shout Factory. Rather than sit back and recycle the extras Universal originally granted The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Shout brings over all the old content and drums up plenty of new material. Extras on the 4K release include:

• NEW Audio Commentaries - Two new audio commentaries join a third track (previously released by Universal) with director Andre Ovredal and producer Bradley J. Fischer. The new tracks feature film critic Meagan Navarro and, my personal favorite, a commentary with actor David Dastmalchian, who brings plenty of fresh perspective and anecdotes to the proceedings.

• NEW Interview (HD, 15 minutes) - With folklorist and author Dr. Karen Sollznow.

• From The Pits Of Hell: Dracula Reimagined (HD, 7 minutes) - The first of three short featurettes.

• Evil Is Aboard: The Making Of The Last Voyage Of The Demeter (HD, 11 minutes) - A broader extra.

• Dracula And The Digital Age (HD, 8 minutes) - FX on the Demeter.

• Deleted Scenes (HD) - With optional director's commentary. Scenes include "Clemens Picking up a Stone in Varna," "Bosphorus and Constantinople," "Clemens Following Huck's Blood Trail," "Clemens and Anna Talk on Deck," "Crew Discuss Where the Beast Is Hiding," "Finding the Corpses in the Crate," "Wojchek Finds the Captain" and "Clemens Visits His Father's Grave."

• Alternate Opening (HD) - With optional director's commentary.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"I have finally seen the true darkness that dwells beneath the surface of this world, the evil that neither science nor reason can explain. Yet I have also seen its beauty and those willing to give all to protect it... And so I will pursue this foul beast. And I swear by those who have given their lives that I will extinguish this blight and send it back to hell."

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is an ambitious slice of claustrophobic vampire horror that falls a bit short when it comes to fleshing out the dear, undead Count. But it has suspense and tension in spades, not to mention enough jump scares, bloodletting, and notable performances to eek out a kill. Shout Factory's 4K UltraHD release is even better, with a brand new beautiful 4K transfer, the same Dolby Atmos audio as its Universal predecessor, and a host of extras, among them two new exclusive commentary tracks. Recommended.