Dracula Review – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Gothic Classic is Ridiculous but Watchable
Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. However, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted vampire romance displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, it could be preferable compared with the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that looks like it presents a land border between France and Romania.
Waltz as a Clever but Weary Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz plays a witty yet careworn vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who ends up in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the malevolent vampire count, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking the voice of Gru by Steve Carell in the Despicable Me films. It’s a role suits him perfectly.
The Story: A Saga of Heartbreak
The story is this: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the world in torment for 400 years following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence due to his blasphemous mourning over the death of his beloved Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has sought relentlessly for some woman who might be the return of his lost love. Unfortunately, the fortunate female turns out to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair
Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys sporting extravagant attire with a sure hand, and he willingly includes offering funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself following Elisabeta’s passing, along with comical sequences that occur when Dracula douses himself with a specific fragrance in historic Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula is available digitally beginning on the first of December and in disc format from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
