Dracula Review – Besson’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Ridiculous but Entertaining
Maybe interest is limited for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. And yet, it has to be said: his richly designed romantic vampire tale boasts bold vision and flair – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, such as a scene that looks like it presents a territorial boundary between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead
Christoph Waltz plays a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the malevolent vampire count, enacted by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role that he too was born to take on.
The Narrative: A Tale of Love and Loss
The plot unfolds as follows: the vampire lord has been restlessly roaming the world in torment over four centuries following his rise as one of the undead, a penalty for his faithless sorrow 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 would be the rebirth of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman turns out to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his land assets and the tiny painting of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair
Besson organizes Dracula’s second-act backstory of worldwide travels sporting extravagant attire confidently, and he is not above giving us funny bits reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself post-Elisabeta’s demise, as well as comical sequences that follow Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, that renders him unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.
Dracula is on digital platforms starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray from December 22nd. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
