The Last Voyage Of The Demeter Footage Reaction: Vampires On The Open Sea [CinemaCon 2022]

CinemaCon is currently taking place in Las Vegas and Universal Pictures decided to bring a great deal of footage from its upcoming slate. This includes "The Last Voyage of the Demeter," a movie that we first covered the development of more than a decade ago. This to say, this one has been a very long time coming and, at long last, some footage has been showcased to prove that it does indeed exist and will be with us next year.

Corey Hawkins leads the cast with director André Øvredal ("Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark") in the director's chair. The impressive ensemble also includes the likes of Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian, Aisling Franciosi, Jon Jon Briones, Stefan Kapicic, Nikolai Nikolaeff, Javier Botet, Woody Norman, Martin Furulund, and Chris Walley. As for the story, it is based on a single chapter Bram Stoker's "Dracula" that tells the story of the Demeter, which was chartered to carry private cargo, specifically 24 unmarked wooden crates, from Carpathia to London.

The movie aims to tell the tale of the events that befell the doomed crew aboard that ship. Now, we have some idea of what that is going to look like. In broad terms, it seems like we're getting a stylish and dark vampire flick that may be able to set itself apart within the genre.

The footage showcased at the event kicks off with a ship isolated in the middle of the ocean. The crew hanging out in the lower decks are seen eating together. But they're not alone as we see that there is a coffin under the boards. More creepy imagery comes our way as we see a goat has been bitten in the neck. "This looks like a bite," some voiceover chimes in, as if there were any doubt. Things get even more ominous as we see characters knocking twice, working as some sort of signal. But what are they signaling about?

Things get creepy when something emerges from a wooden cage, though we aren't treated to what precisely it is. The source material would suggest it isn't anything good. We then cut to someone wrapped in a sheet and lit on fire, who is then thrown overboard. Finally, we see a vampire, hairless at that, jump from high up on the ship down to the deck below.

"We all know where he plans to deliver us: to hell," Cunningham, who plays the captain of the Demeter, says — putting a punctuation mark on the whole thing.

Beyond that, there were lots of interior lower deck shots that are lit with candles and flames, while the action we did see looks very heightened and stylized.

"The Last Voyage of the Demeter" is currently set to hit theaters on January 27, 2023.