Everyone loves “Dracula on a Boat” over Last Voyage of the Demeter

The Last Voyage of the Demeter tells the fateful, terrifying story of the ship that brought the infamous Count to England – so, why not call it Dracula on a Boat instead?

The Captain’s Log, a pivotal, frightening chapter in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, cites a logbook from the Demeter, a ship that played host to unusual disappearances and unnerving apparitions. The crew weren’t imagining things: they were transporting the actual Dracula the whole time.

It’s a small part of the larger story, but writer Bragi Schut Jr. saw potential in an Alien-esque horror about the doomed crew aboard the ship. Twenty years later, the project has finally made it to (most) cinemas in the form of The Last Voyage of the Demeter, directed by Trollhunter’s André Øvredal.

The film is a bit of an outlier as it sails into cinemas this weekend, especially with Barbie and Oppenheimer still dominating – but what if it was called Dracula on a Boat?

Dracula on a Boat beats Last Voyage of the Demeter

Over the past couple of days, jokes have been ramping up on social media. One user paraphrased Samuel L. Jackson’s iconic quote from Snakes on a Plane, saying: “I have had it with this motherf*cking Dracula on this motherf*cking ship.”

Others have found different ways to adapt it for the Matt Damon Oppenheimer meme. “Are you saying that when we push that boat to sea, there’s a chance that a Dracula is on board?” one wrote, while another tweeted: “Are you telling me there’s a non-zero chance that Dracula is on this boat with us right now?”

Some wish it was actually called Dracula on a Boat, as Last Voyage of the Demeter seems a bit impenetrable from the outset. “Yeah call it Dracula on a Boat. I’d see that. I would not see Last Voyage of the Demeter,” one wrote. “Dracula on a Boat, movies are so back it’s unreal,” another wrote, and a third tweeted: “Genuinely believe the movie would be better received if they went full Snakes on a Plane with its marketing and just said, ‘Guys. Dracula is on a boat!’”

Of course, there’s another point to address from the memes, as one user put it: “What’s astonishing about wading through the great ‘Dracula on a boat’ memes is how many people aren’t in on the joke. Like, the boatfuls of people who are completely unaware that ‘Dracula on a boat’ has been a sequence in almost every Dracula movie. He was never not on a boat.”

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is in cinemas now. You can find out how to watch the movie here.