Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Gothic Classic is Absurd but Watchable
Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. However, it has to be said: his richly designed vampire romance has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, like a particular moment that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz portrays a witty yet careworn cleric fighting vampires – it feels natural for him to tackle this role before – who ends up in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. The same goes for the sinister Dracula, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell of the Despicable Me series. This character he seemed destined to play.
The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss
The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has wandered endlessly the world in sorrow for hundreds of years since he became undead, a consequence for his irreligious grief after the passing of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for some woman who would be the rebirth of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson’s Handling and Lighthearted Touch
Besson arranges Dracula’s second-act backstory of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he willingly includes providing humorous scenes with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, as well as absurd moments that result after Dracula applies to himself with a specific fragrance in historic Florence, that renders him irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula is available digitally beginning on the first of December and in disc format from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
