The Last Voyage of the Demeter

Shrouded in an ominous atmosphere of bleakness and despair, The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a mediocre Gothic horror saga that fails to capitalize on an intriguing premise.

Consistently creepy yet rarely terrifying, this latest ill-fated cinematic voyage on the high seas is extrapolated from the obscure “captain’s log” sidebar of Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel and functions here as an origin story of sorts.

However, this flat spinoff doesn’t make any meaningful additions to the mythology of the source material — like the recent comedy Renfield — and is more of a curiosity piece for vampire devotees and Dracula completists.

It’s set in the late 19th century aboard a Russian schooner tasked with delivering dozens of wooden crates to a British port. For his final voyage before retirement, the aging captain (Liam Cunningham) assembles a ragtag crew including his own preteen grandson (Woody Norman).

Others on board include Clemens (Corey Hawkins), a doctor and experienced sailor, and a first officer (David Dastmalchian) whose prejudice toward the Black doctor causes friction.

After leaving Carpathia, they discover an ailing stowaway (Aisling Franciosi) who Clemens insists upon nursing back to health against the crew’s wishes. That decision proves wise, even as strange happenings plague the crew members afterward.

Haunted to various degrees by paranoia, hallucinations, and unexplained phenomena, they become concerned. There’s evidence of curses and possession. Still, Clemens is unfazed. “I don’t believe in superstitions,” he explains. “I believe in science and nature.”

As they try to sort out what’s real and what’s imagined, the gory attacks intensify, and eventually it becomes clear that a malevolent presence has climbed aboard. The cargo itself might provide the explanation, if not a path to escape.

Norwegian filmmaker Andre Ovredal (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark) crafts some intense frights from the film’s claustrophobic surroundings — after all, the dark and creaky vessel lends itself to some vivid jump scares and supernatural shenanigans.

Last Voyage of the Demeter doesn’t yield much character development or thematic complexity beyond the minimal expository requirements. The story is driven by contrivances, along with endless mentions of bad omens and bad luck. And it struggles to maintain suspense and narrative momentum while building toward its reveal.

In the meantime, many of the confrontations are blanketed in fog, which creates some striking visuals but doesn’t enhance an already flimsy plot that lacks teeth.

Rated R, 118 minutes.