The Last Voyage Of The Demeter - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Collector's Edition

Between the theater and home video, I’ve gone through André Øvredal’s The Last Voyage of the Demeter a few times now. While It hasn’t gotten significantly better in my estimation, it certainly hasn’t gotten any worse I still have a few gripes with this attempt at adapting a tiny fraction of Stoker’s novel, but overall I think this film delivers some bloody good material. It’s moody and atmospheric. It’s creepy and unsettling with a few good frights and a couple notable shocks. It might be a tad too long with a needless coda, but I’m always left entertained. When the sun goes down and darkness creeps into your home, The Last Voyage of the Demeter is worth huddling under the covers for. Here’s what I said just a couple of years ago:

With so many interpretations of Bram Stoker’s iconic vampire, it’s difficult for filmmakers to come up with anything new or exciting for Dracula. He’s been the mark of true horror. He’s been played by Jack Palance. He’s been killed and restored to life countless times as Christopher Lee. He’s sometimes depicted as a sexpot bo-hunk and also depicted as a demonic beast. Adaptations of his story have run wild from thin-but-faithful overviews of the plot to dramatically changing the entire vibe of horror into a bizarre off-tone tragic romance. But thanks to director André Øvredal, one of the most chilling chapters of the book isn’t simply glossed over for time, but treated as a feature all its own with The Last Voyage of the Demeter. It may be a little too long and a little too uneven leading into the final act, but the film brings the Prince of Darkness back to being a terrifying beast with some genuinely creepy, scary, moments of terror. 

Starring Corey Hawkins as wayward Dr. Clemens, he’s traveled the world and is desperately trying to book passage home to London from deep in the wilds of Romania. The only ship available is the Demeter, a vessel chartered to carry a very special cargo to England, but Captain Elliot (Liam Cunningham), his grandson Toby (Woody Norman), and his second in command Wojchek (David Dastmalchian) have no need for a man like Clemens. When superstitious crewmen abandon their postings at the sight of the insignia adorning the cargo, Hawkins is given a chance to prove himself as a deckhand and ship’s doctor. Little does he know his skills as a doctor would be given practical application on the voyage when a creature of nightmare and legend starts feasting on the crew one by one.

Now, it’d be very simple to cast off The Last Voyage of the Demeter as a simple Alien rehash but with Dracula (or IT! The Terror from Beyond Space if you want to get prickly about it). The two films have any number of similarities, none the least of which are the “Average Joe” crewmen being picked off by a beast that lurks in the shadows. But what this film does so well is steep the audience in a unique terrifying location. The belly of a freighter traveling at the whims of the weather with no chance for escape is just as chilling as the infinite expanse of space. Even when a character does the “smart thing” and attempts to leave, the beast has other plans and won’t be denied his meal! The key characters we care about are well-drawn and relatable making them an essential asset for feeling the terror they’re experiencing. And our beastly take on Dracula is certainly effective for some damned creepy imagery. The most horrifying moments aren’t even with the vampire, but what he’s done to some of the crew!

For me, where the film stumbles quite a bit is with certain character management and pacing. At just under two hours, there’s a lot of padding that doesn’t need to be there, especially as the survivors gear up for their big plan in the third act. Characters who had all but five words in the first 90 minutes all of a sudden are sputtering out their entire backstory. By that point, if you can’t identify who that character is by name, there’s no point in that speech. They're meat for the grinder. The audience is all amped up ready for the big trap to be set into motion and their fight for survival to begin. Instead, everyone sits down to chat and wait for the sun to set. Talk about sucking the wind out of the sails. Another aspect that didn’t really fit is a little coda that’s just tacked on like an attempt to set up a sequel that probably won’t come - or is even warranted given the characters involved. They're clunky issues that keep the film from greatness but don't completely sink the voyage either. 

André Øvredal and his writers had a big task ahead of them adapting a small section of the novel. Overall, I liked what they did and where they went with it. Dracula can be a pretty stale character if not handled correctly. They can’t all be Nicolas Cage! The Last Voyage of the Demeter earns its points by capturing a perfect atmosphere of dread and terror with a beastly vision of Dracula that was thankfully largely captured by practical makeup, costumes, and puppets with minimal CGI trickery for enhancements. Often it’s the use of what you don’t see that makes the film as scary as what it’s showing you that makes this particular Dracula so memorable. Our key cast is also excellent with Corey Hawkins standing tall as our man of science and reason while David Dastmalchian stands tall on his own. Liam Cunningham as the Captain often overtakes the show giving the narration that perfect sense of foreboding while desperately working to save his ship and crew from their dark fates. I truly feel a tighter edit, especially in the lead-up to the final act and this film would experience a fair-weather voyage. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
As Universal continues its daffy tradition of issuing a 1080p Blu-ray disc while a boutique label handles the 4K, we have Scream Factory to thank for this two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray release of The Last Voyage of the Demeter. The 4K is pressed on a BD100 disc with a BD50 reserved for the 1080p Blu-ray and the bulk of the bonus features. The discs are housed in a standard sturdy case with identical slipcover art. The discs load to static-image main menus with basic navigation options.

Thanks to Scream Factory, one of the bigger wrongs of the initial Blu-ray release of The Last Voyage of the Demeter has now been corrected. That first disc had a solid visual presentation during the full light scenes, but very much struggled during the dark and dimly lit scenes. Black levels and shadows just didn’t deliver the same goods I saw in theaters. Now because we get to enjoy this film in full 2160p with Dolby Vision HDR (and HDR10), the image really comes to life. This film thrives on dim and minimal light sources and the added resolution and HDR grade serve this film's needs perfectly. Bitrate is nice and high throughout with all of the grand visual enhancements from a tight HDR grade in tow. Details enjoy a welcome upgrade letting the facial features and rugged sailor costumes stand out even in the dark and dim lighting scheme enjoyed throughout much of the film. While the daylight scenes certainly stand out best, I appreciate we can actually enjoy the look of our beastly vampire as it scours the cargo hold of the ill-fated ship. All of that is a long way of saying the black levels and shadows are exactly where they’re supposed to be with an impressive sense of depth to the image. Whites are brilliantly crisp. Primaires get their due care and attention with Red an obvious standout. If Universal isn’t going to do the work, I’m glad Scream Factory stepped up to the plate.

The one thing the old Blu-ray absolutely hit right out of the gate was the Atmos audio mix. Like our famed vampire, it’s a beast when and where it counts most - which is most of the time for this film! I’ll let my previous thoughts stand here:

On the audio side, the best aspect of this disc is the Atmos audio mix. Given the location of a creepy ship, the filmmakers and sound team came up with a very cool series of tricks to evoke that feeling of isolation and creepiness. My favorite is a knocking scheme where someone bangs on the side of the boat and another crewmember knocks back. It gives a sense of imaging and also very effectively uses the surround and height channels. Likewise when our favorite vampire is creeping around, the sound of leathery moving skin slips and slides around beautifully. Dialog is clean and clear without issue. Given the creaks and groans of the rocking ship, LFE gets some pretty choice moments for impact. Scoring by Bear McCreary is also effectively moody knowing well when to keep to the silence and letting the anticipation of the scare feed the audience instead of knocking them over the head with music cues. All around an excellent Atmos track.

In addition to that excellent track, Scream Factory did its due diligence for collectors of all stripes by including a DTS-HD MA 5.1 and DTS-DH MA 2.0 audio mix as well. I only briefly fiddled with these options as I fully believe the Atmos track is your best bet. That said, I can’t deny these tracks stick well. Replaying some key moments and creepy quiet bits like the eerie knocking of the ship’s hull, the "burials" at sea, or the big final battle, these scenes held well. Obviously not as well as the Atmos, but if you’re not so equipped, the 5.1 and 2.0 tracks will serve nicely.

On the bonus features front, Scream Factory did right by fans and also delivered a more healthy and robust selection of bonus features. Joining Universal’s relatively solid slate of extras are two new interesting audio commentaries along with a new interview segment. The new commentary tracks with critic Meagan Vavarro and actor David Dastmalchain are very good in their own ways, but I do wish these two had been recorded together. Solo commentaries can get a little wordy and filler and between the two I felt like there was a little more “describing the action” than necessary that probably wouldn’t have been an issue if they were together. Small gripe at any rate when they both deliver interesting perspectives and insights into the film and the production.

4K UHD

• Audio Commentary featuring André Øvredal and Bradley J. Fischer
• Audio Commentary featuring David Dastmalchian
• Audio Commentary featuring Meagan Navarro

Blu-ray

• Audio Commentary featuring André Øvredal and Bradley J. Fischer
• Audio Commentary featuring David Dastmalchian
• Audio Commentary featuring Meagan Navarro
• Interview with Folklorist Dr. Karen Stollznow (HD 18:13)
• Alternate Opening w/ Optional Commentary (HD 2:24)
• Deleted Scenes w/ Optional Commentary (HD 11:45 Total)
• From the Pits of Hell: Dracual Reimagined (HD 7:11)
• Evil Is Aboard: The Making of The Last Voyage of the Demeter (HD 10:44)
• Dracula and the Digital Age (HD 8:34)

The Last Voyage of the Demeter isn’t a perfect film, I have a few dodges with it, but I can’t deny its entertainment value. It takes gumption to take a few mere paragraphs of a novel and expand it into a two-hour story of its own. Thankfully André Øvredal delivered something worthwhile. Unlike most Dracula films, this one certainly has some teeth delivering a fitting fright flick worth watching. Now we can give thanks to Scream Factory for giving us the 4K UHD release we should have had from the very start. The Dolby Vision HDR transfer is excellent letting the film’s dark visuals enjoy some much-needed breathing room. On top of the fantastic Atmos mix, fans can pick from a DTS-HD MA 5.1 or 2.0 track to match their capabilities. But if that wasn’t enough blood and guts for you, we also have a terrific package of new and archival extras to sort through on a cold dark night. Recommended.