The new horror film “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” was dubbed “Dracula on a Boat” by social media users, and the twist on the chapter from Bram Stoker’s iconic horror novel definitely did deliver on the premise of the age-old vampire feasting on the crew of an unlucky ship.
Introducing a monster of any kind — alien, werewolf, zombies — to a vehicle that can’t stop and can’t let anyone off is a tried-and-true horror formula. Here are some of the movies where the combo of “creature” + “claustrophobic form of transportation” worked and some where it ran aground.
13. Snakes on a Plane
The ultimate in high-concept movies had a mad-as-hell Samuel L. Jackson battling, that’s right, snakes on a plane. The venomous reptiles are unleashed on a Hawaiian flight to keep a witness from testifying at a murder trial. And to have Jackson deliver this immortal line: “I have had it with these motherf—king snakes on this motherf—king plane!” Naturally, every obvious piece of anatomy gets bitten.
Stream “Snakes on a Plane” on Max.
12. Anaconda
Giant snake on a boat! In this delightfully cheesy ’90s offering, oddly accented snake hunter Jon Voight leads a crew of documentarians — including Ice Cube, Jennifer Lopez and Eric Stoltz — down the waters of the Amazon as they seek out a legendarily outsized anaconda. Of course, there’s no need to look for it as it finds them. Not all of the killer snake action is limited to their ship, but that line from “Apocalypse Now,” “Never get out of the boat,” is still good advice.
Stream “Anaconda” on Starz and DirecTV.
11. Dracula 2000
Dracula on a plane! This Dimension horror film updated the “Dracula on a boat” premise from Stoker’s book to a private plane where fortune hunters have the extremely bad luck to be traveling with the Count’s sealed coffin. One character unwisely opens the metal casket looking for treasure but finds the slumbering vamp, who just needs a snack or two to revive himself. In a nod to the original novel, where the dead captain of the Demeter is found lashed to the wheel, the body of the plane’s pilot is mysteriously strapped to his seat with metal bonds.
Stream “Dracula 2000” on Max.
10. Blood Red Sky
Vampire on a plane! A woman (Peri Baumeister) who is secretly one of the undead must battle ruthless hijackers, while protecting her non-vamp son, in this underrated German Netflix movie.
Stream “Blood Red Sky” on Netflix.
9. The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Dracula on a boat! While this is the first movie based on Bram Stoker’s immortal novel to exclusively focus on the voyage of the doomed ship that brings the vamp to England, most Dracula adaptations have included at least a passing reference to the sequence. The movie from André Øvredal, the director of “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” draws from the captain’s log portion of the book in which an unseen monster picks off the crew one by one and turns it into a full-blown creature feature.
Watch it exclusively in theaters.
8. Howl
Werewolves on a train! An evening commute through an isolated forest is, ahem, derailed, when a pack of lycanthropes attack in this British film. Directed by Paul Hyett, who brings his make-up skills from “The Descent” to the creepy creature effects.
Stream “Howl” on Fubo.
7. Deep Rising
Sea monsters on a boat! Hijackers board a luxury liner only to find that nearly everyone’s dead, thanks to a bunch of vicious, tentacled sea creatures. While nowhere near the perfection of “The Mummy” movies, this Stephen Sommers film should satisfy your “horror on the high seas” needs.
Stream “Deep Rising” on Hoopla.
6. Twilight Zone: The Movie
Gremlin on a plane! John Lithgow stars as a nervous flyer who’s the only one to see a mysterious creature ripping up the wing of the aircraft outside his window. Of course, no one believes him and he must resort to extreme measures to save the flight. It’s a remake of one of the most famous “Twilight Zone” episodes, 1963’s “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” which starred a pre-“Star Trek” William Shatner as the increasingly unhinged passenger.
Stream “Twilight Zone: The Movie” on Kanopy.
5. Lifeforce
Vampires on a spaceship! Steve Railsback stars as the only crew member to survive after his craft takes three human-looking aliens in glass coffins on board. (When will humans ever learn not to pick up souvenirs?) Back on Earth, he’s the only one who can stop the beautiful space vamp (Mathilda May) thanks to a Vulcan-like mind meld. Tobe Hooper of “Poltergeist” directs a terrific cast that includes Patrick Stewart.
Stream “Lifeforce” on Fubo, MGM+, Tubi or Pluto.
4. World War Z
Zombies on a plane! Towards the end of the film, Brad Pitt’s character narrowly escapes the fall of Jerusalem to the undead horde by grabbing a plane to safety. Except… as a small chihuahua alerts us, the infected are also on board. The speed with which people turn into zombies, and the fact that there’s absolutely nowhere to go on a plane, make this one of the movie’s best sequences.
Stream “World War Z” on Pluto TV.
3. Horror Express
Alien on a train! Horror icons Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing star in this tale that’s based on “Who Goes There?,” the same novel that inspired John Carpenter’s classic “The Thing.” In this version, Lee’s scientist brings a frozen specimen on board that he hopes will be the “missing link” in human evolution. It’s actually a space parasite that can leap from body to body. Add in Telly Savalas as a Cossack captain and this is a ride you don’t want to miss.
Stream “Horror Express” on Kanopy, Tubi or The Roku Channel.
2. Train to Busan
Zombies on a train! A father tries to save his young daughter when everyone on board begins turning into ravenous zombies in this thrilling, fast-paced movie that became one of South Korea’s highest-grossing horror films. It’s tense, it’s incredibly moving and it’s terrific.
Stream “Train to Busan” on Prime Video, Peacock, AMC+, Shudder, Hoopla, Tubi and Kanopy.
1. Alien
Alien on a spaceship! Ridley Scott’s slow-building sci-fi horror film spawned a whole franchise and a series of not-great cinematic copies, but you can’t beat the original for deep space dread. There are so many places an alien can hide in the intricate architecture of the Nostromo and one of the greatest set pieces is when the captain (Tom Skerritt) tries to corner the creature in a narrow tunnel as his horrified crew watches the two dots get closer and closer, knowing there’s nothing they can do to save him. It’s up to quick-thinking Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) to save the day, as she does again in James Cameron’s arguably even better “Aliens.”
Stream “Alien” on Hulu.
