Dracula Review – The French Director’s Passionate Revamp of the Gothic Classic is Absurd but Watchable
It’s possible there is no great enthusiasm for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for stylish excess. And yet, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer to it to Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, including one shot that seems to depict a territorial boundary between France and Romania.
The Veteran Actor as a Witty Yet Careworn Priest Tracking the Undead
Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who ends up in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the malevolent vampire count, brought to life by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone similar to Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role that he too was born to take on.
The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss
The story is this: the count has wandered endlessly the world in sorrow for 400 years after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence for his irreligious grief after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has looked tirelessly for some woman who would be the reincarnation of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady is revealed as 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 negotiate his real estate holdings and the tiny painting of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.
Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style
Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he willingly includes giving us some comedy moments in the style of Mel Brooks – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with farcical scenes that result after Dracula douses himself using a particular scent during the 1700s in Florence, which causes him to be compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula is available digitally beginning on the first of December and for physical purchase from December 22nd. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.
