Dracula Review – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Ridiculous but Watchable
Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for polished extravagance. And yet, one must admit: his lavishly upholstered love story with vampires has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that looks like it presents a territorial boundary between France and Romania.
Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz embodies a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who ends up in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the evil Count Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect similar to the voice of Gru by Steve Carell of the Despicable Me series. This is a part that he too was born to take on.
The Plot: A Saga of Heartbreak
The plot unfolds as follows: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the earth in anguish for 400 years after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence for his faithless sorrow over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for some woman who could be the rebirth of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his real estate holdings and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
The Filmmaker’s Approach and Lighthearted Touch
Besson structures Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels sporting extravagant attire with a sure hand, and he is not above giving us funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – such as the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to end his own life following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as comical sequences that follow Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume in historic Florence, which causes him to be irresistible to women. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray from December 22nd. It will be shown in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.