A new year is officially underway, and Netflix subscribers are starting it off with a fright from an underrated horror flick. The Last Voyage of the Demeter, the 2023 film from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark director André Øvredal, has re-emerged on the platform’s global film charts, landing in eighth place to begin 2026 just ahead of Kate Winslet‘s directorial debut, Goodbye June. Though far from a theatrical hit, with a box office haul of just over $21 million and a grim reception from critics, the film’s ominous atmosphere aboard the titular spooky boat enraptured viewers with a solid 73% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Øvredal’s vision also earned some credit for recounting a piece of Bram Stoker’s Dracula that is largely left behind in most adaptations — “The Captain’s Log.”
The Last Voyage of the Demeter takes place before Dracula arrives in England and begins his reign of terror on land. It centers on the crew of the Demeter, a merchant ship carrying a load of unmarked crates from Carpathia to London. What seems like a normal journey for the vessel slowly turns into a nightmare as the doomed crewmates begin noticing strange occurrences around the ship, including their fellow sailors mysteriously vanishing. They soon realize that a monstrous creature has stowed away with them and emerges every night to hunt down everyone aboard. Little more than sitting ducks on their claustrophobic floating tomb, they fight desperately to survive until the end of the voyage, but the film shows from the very beginning that it’s all in vain after the ship’s wreckage washes up on shore.
Along with an experienced horror director, the film features a solid cast to bring to life the often-forgotten Dracula chapter. Straight Outta Compton star Corey Hawkins and The Abandons‘ Aisling Franciosi lead The Last Voyage of the Demeter alongside horror icon and The Suicide Squad star David Dastmalchian, Liam Cunningham, Woody Norman, Jon Jon Briones, and Stefan Kapičić, among others. Renowned creature actor Javier Botet, meanwhile, plays the monstrous rendition of Dracula that is far from the charming aristocratic vampire he typically appears as.
‘Dracula’ Recently Received Another High-Profile Adaptation
Attempts at bringing Dracula to screens haven’t slowed down nearly 130 years after Stoker’s original novel was released. Last year saw The Fifth Element director Luc Besson deliver his rendition of the tale, Dracula: A Love Tale. Starring Caleb Landry Jones and Christoph Waltz, the film takes an altogether different approach to the iconic vampire, focusing on a 15th-century prince, who is transformed into the titular count. Cursed to walk the Earth as Dracula after denouncing God over the death of his wife, he defies death throughout the centuries in the hopes that, one day, he can finally be reunited with his lost love. Critics mostly enjoyed the film, giving it a 74% score on Rotten Tomatoes, though U.S. viewers will get to judge it for themselves when it arrives in theaters stateside on February 6.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter is currently available on Netflix. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the biggest streaming hits throughout the new year.
- Release Date
- August 11, 2023
- Director
- André Øvredal
