The Last Voyage of the Demeter

Directed by André Øvredal, The Last Voyage of the Demeter follows several sailors, including Liam Cunningham’s Captain Elliot and Corey Hawkins’ Clemens, as they’re forced to fight for their lives after an ancient evil awakens on their ship. It’s a compelling premise that’s employed to watchable yet increasingly erratic effect by Øvredal, which is disappointing, to say the least, given that the filmmaker does a superb job of initially drawing the viewer into the deliberately-paced proceedings – with the compelling vibe heightened by a throwback atmosphere that generally proves impossible to resist (ie the picture feels like it could’ve been made in the ’80s or ’90s, ultimately). And while the claustrophobic bent of the movie’s setup does result in a handful of engrossing, tense sequences, with the first onscreen kill certainly as brutal and electrifying as one might’ve hoped, The Last Voyage of the Demeter progresses into a hit-and-miss midsection and second half that is, due to the film’s bloated 119 minute runtime and absence of wholeheartedly fleshed-out characters, rife with scenes and sequences of a distinctly overlong and needless variety (ie the movie is in desperate need of some serious streamlining). By the time the dimly-lit (and distressingly anticlimactic) finale rolls around, The Last Voyage of the Demeter has confirmed its place as a decent-enough horror endeavor that feels like it could (and should) be so much better.

**1/2 out of ****