Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Classic Horror Story is Ridiculous but Watchable
It’s possible there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. Still, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a land border between France and Romania.
Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz plays a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the malevolent vampire count, enacted by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. It’s a role suits him perfectly.
The Narrative: A Chronicle of Longing
The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has been restlessly roaming the globe in torment over four centuries since he became undead, a consequence for his faithless sorrow over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has looked tirelessly for a female who would be the return of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the lucky lady turns out to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the winsome Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair
Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he willingly includes offering humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as farcical scenes that follow Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be compelling to the opposite sex. Ridiculous and watchable.
Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and on DVD and Blu-ray from 22 December. It plays in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.