Dracula Review – The French Director’s Passionate Revamp of the Classic Horror Story is Absurd but Watchable
It’s possible audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. Still, it has to be said: his opulently crafted love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I might just favor compared with Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, such as a scene that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.
Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest
Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – it feels natural for him to tackle such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the malevolent vampire count, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking the voice of Gru by Steve Carell of the Despicable Me series. This character suits him perfectly.
The Story: A Saga of Heartbreak
The plot unfolds as follows: the count has traveled ceaselessly the earth in anguish for 400 years following his rise as one of the undead, a penalty for his faithless sorrow after the passing of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has sought relentlessly for a lady who could be the rebirth of his deceased partner. Unfortunately, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the count’s castle to discuss his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
The Filmmaker’s Approach and Comic Flair
Besson arranges Dracula’s second-act backstory of worldwide travels sporting extravagant attire skillfully, and he doesn’t shy away from giving us funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to comical sequences that occur when Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, that renders him compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray from 22 December. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
