Dracula Review – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Classic Horror Story is Ridiculous but Entertaining
Maybe interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. However, one must admit: his opulently crafted vampire romance displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor compared with Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, including one shot that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.
Waltz as a Clever but Weary Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened man of the church pursuing the undead – it’s surprising he never took on such a part earlier – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect evoking Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. This character suits him perfectly.
The Narrative: A Tale of Love and Loss
The plot unfolds as follows: the count has traveled ceaselessly the world in torment for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a penalty for his irreligious grief following the loss of his wife, 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 rebirth of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female turns out to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to review his property portfolio and the small picture of the winsome Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style
Besson organizes Dracula’s second-act backstory of international journeys in various outrageous costumes confidently, and he willingly includes giving us some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with absurd moments that result after Dracula applies to himself in a certain perfume in historic Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
