This film purports to be based on the captain's logue of the Demeter as it is included in Stoker's novel. But there are numerous departures that I find detrimental to the overall story.
First, as many reviewers have also noted, Dracula appears as comically similar to a larger-scale Gollum from LOTR! This is just too silly, and is completely inconsistent with Stoker's description of the count. There are a few mentions of Dracula's ability to appear as a human, but we never actually see him in this guise, even in the final scene when he's in the tavern! The goal seems to have been to portray Dracula as a loathsome fiend, which he certainly is; but wouldn't it have been more interesting to have him masquerade as a nondescript crew member to facilitate his predations on the hapless occupants of the ship?
A huge departure from Stoker's novel is the negation of any power over Dracula by Christian symbols and faith. It's such a shame that our current culture will not tolerate any idea that Christianity has power over evil, which was an essential aspect of Stoker's original story!
A big inconsistency has to be the puzzling way that Dracula apparently never actually needs to retreat to a coffin of his native soil during daylight hours. Where does he go? The film initially makes a point of this necessity early on, but it never seems to factor in to the plot later, especially when the crew is frantically searching for him in order to destroy him!
The scene in the captain's quarters when the vampire zombie is attacking little Toby is especially confusing! Apparently, Dracula has been crouching in a corner of the room during the entire ordeal! Why didn't he just either open the locked door and allow the zombie to enter, or just attack Tobey right away? Instead, he seems to wait until the rescuers are at the door and about to break in!
Lastly, what about the "black dog" mentioned prominently in the newspaper account of the Demeter's landing according to Stoker's novel? The implication is that Dracula transformed himself into a black wolf in order to escape from the wreckage once it made landfall, but there is no trace of any such ability for Dracula to transform in this film, except for his apparent ability to sprout wings and fly around like fighter jet, even in the midst of a raging storm at sea!
In any film that includes supernatural elements, it's necessary to suspend some degree of incredulity in order to enjoy the story. But there are just too many inconsistencies throughout this film to ignore!
I find it immensely disappointing.
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