Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Ridiculous but Entertaining
Maybe audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for polished extravagance. Still, one must admit: his opulently crafted love story with vampires has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, it could be preferable compared with Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a land border between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest
Christoph Waltz portrays a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on this character previously – who arrives in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the malevolent vampire count, enacted by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. This is a part that he too was born to take on.
The Story: A Chronicle of Longing
The story is this: the count has wandered endlessly the world in torment for 400 years since he became undead, a consequence due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has sought relentlessly for some woman who could be the reincarnation of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female turns out to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the count’s castle to discuss his land assets and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
The Filmmaker’s Approach and Humorous Style
Besson structures Dracula’s second-act backstory of global roaming in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he willingly includes providing some comedy moments with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life post-Elisabeta’s demise, in addition to comical sequences that result after Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.
Dracula is available digitally beginning on the first of December and on DVD and Blu-ray from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
