Dracula Review – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Classic Horror Story is Absurd but Watchable
It’s possible audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. Still, it has to be said: his opulently crafted love story with vampires boasts bold vision and flair – and with its B-movie charm, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer compared with Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.
The Veteran Actor as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz plays a witty yet careworn cleric fighting vampires – it feels natural for him to tackle this character previously – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the sinister Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.
The Narrative: A Tale of Love and Loss
The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the globe in torment over four centuries after his transformation into a vampire, a penalty due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his spouse Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has looked tirelessly for a lady who would be the return of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the vampire’s estate to review his real estate holdings and the small picture of the lovely Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.
Besson’s Handling and Lighthearted Touch
Besson structures Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he willingly includes offering funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – for example the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself following Elisabeta’s passing, in addition to comical sequences that follow Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.
Dracula is on digital platforms starting December 1st and for physical purchase from 22 December. It plays in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.