Dracula Review – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reinterpretation of the Gothic Classic is Ridiculous but Entertaining
It’s possible interest is limited for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for glossiness and bloat. Still, it’s worth noting: his lavishly upholstered vampire romance displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a geographic divide between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead
Christoph Waltz embodies a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the sinister Dracula, enacted by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to Carell’s Gru character from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.
The Plot: A Tale of Love and Loss
The plot unfolds as follows: the count has traveled ceaselessly the world in anguish over four centuries following his rise as one of the undead, a punishment for his irreligious grief after the passing of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has been searching, searching, searching for a lady who could be the reincarnation of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the reserved future wife of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to discuss his land assets and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair
Besson structures Dracula’s second-act backstory of worldwide travels in various outrageous costumes confidently, and he willingly includes giving us funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as farcical scenes that occur when Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance in 18th-century Florence, which makes him irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula is available digitally starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
