Even when faced with the uncomfortable reality of Dracula being on their boat, the crew of the Demeter attempt to treat the problem as they would if any wild animal had gotten on board. What they fail to realize, of course, is that Dracula is neither man nor beast, a being who isn’t just following his nature but also his desire. He is, in no uncertain terms, Evil with a capital “E.”
The men of the Demeter learn this lesson the hard way, especially when the sailor Olgaren (Stefan Kapičić) is attacked by Drac during the vamp’s nightly hunt, but doesn’t die right away. Clemens discovers that transfusing Olgaren won’t work, and the man reawakens the following night, immediately attacking Toby. When the rest of the crew rush to Toby’s aid, subduing Olgaren, they fail to realize that Dracula has found his way to the boy instead, feeding on the youth while the men watch helplessly.
The crew is further traumatized when Olgaren, tied to the ship’s mast, is incinerated by the rising of the sun and burned to a crisp. Clemens, finally beginning to come around to believing Anna’s story, insists that Toby cannot be saved, arranging for a burial at sea. A distraught Eliot refuses to let his men toss Toby overboard, and the boy, now a vampire, attacks the captain in broad daylight, making his demise a scarring event in more ways than one. By this point, it’s apparent that director Andre Øvredal is not going to pull any punches with this story, certainly not for matters of taste or morality.