Dracula Review – Besson’s Romantic Reimagining of the Classic Horror Story is Absurd but Engaging
It’s possible there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for polished extravagance. And yet, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted vampire romance boasts bold vision and flair – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, like a particular moment that seems to depict a territorial boundary between France and Romania.
Waltz as a Clever but Weary Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. The same goes for the evil Count Dracula, enacted 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 character that he too was born to take on.
The Narrative: A Tale of Love and Loss
The plot unfolds as follows: the count has traveled ceaselessly the globe in anguish for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a punishment for his irreligious grief over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, the offspring 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 lucky lady turns out to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his land assets and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style
Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits skillfully, and he doesn’t shy away from offering some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – such as Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with absurd moments that result after Dracula applies to himself with a specific fragrance in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and in disc format from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
