Dracula (Javier Botet), left, prepares to make a nighttime snack out of a poor deckhand on the Demeter. Credit: Photo via Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

Norwegian writer/director André Øvredal knows about the pressure that can come with creating iconic, masterful visions.

His first two solo features, 2010’s “Troll Hunter” and 2016’s “The Autopsy of Jane Doe,” stand among the best genre films released since the year 2000.

Since then, however, Øvredal has struggled to maintain consistency. His “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” was a modest success, but his Norse fable “Mortal” went straight to streaming and failed to find an audience.

Øvredal’s latest, “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” which is based on a single chapter from Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” is deadly dull for much of its runtime, which is an unexpected shame.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter
2.5 out of 5 stars
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“Demeter” attracted early buzz due to its narrative being compared to “Alien” on a ship, and while that description is actually not entirely wrong, there are reasons why this vampire tale lacks lasting bite.

While the creative team does a bang-up job putting the audience onboard an aging, rat-infested vessel, “Demeter” just fails to generate any sense of genuine dread.

Maybe it’s because the script by Zak Olkewicz (“Bullet Train” and “Fear Street: Part Two – 1978”) and Bragi Schut (“Escape Room,” “Samaritan,” more) never seems to settle on a narrative push. Are they more concerned about the racial and gender politics at play in 1893 or about scaring the bejesus out of anyone who pays for a ticket on this doomed voyage?

I think the bulk of responsibility falls on whoever decided to keep Dracula as a feral, bat-like creature throughout “Demeter,” despite him being described as a lethal seductress with the ability to charm an entire village into being his food supply.

There’s just nowhere for the character to go or grow or to have an equally potent jump scare moment in the third act as it does the first time Dracula is viewed in the first half hour.

As vampire flicks go, “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” is an empty time suck, but for anyone who loves supernatural possession flicks, “Talk to Me” will hold onto you long after the lights come on.

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