Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Watchable
Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. However, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.
The Veteran Actor as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest
Christoph Waltz plays a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. This is a part he seemed destined to play.
The Story: A Saga of Heartbreak
The story is this: Dracula has been restlessly roaming the globe in torment for 400 years following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his spouse Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has sought relentlessly for some woman who might be the return of his lost love. Unfortunately, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his real estate holdings and the small picture of the winsome Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair
Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels in various outrageous costumes confidently, and he is not above providing funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – like Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, in addition to comical sequences that follow Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance during the 1700s in Florence, which causes him to be compelling to the opposite sex. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula is on digital platforms starting December 1st and in disc format starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
