Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Watchable
Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for polished extravagance. However, it’s worth noting: his richly designed vampire romance has ambition and panache – 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, such as a scene that seems to depict a territorial boundary between France and Romania.
The Veteran Actor as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead
Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who ends up in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. So does the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role that he too was born to take on.
The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing
The plot unfolds as follows: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the earth in anguish over four centuries since he became undead, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has been searching, searching, searching for a female who might be the reincarnation of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female turns out to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to review his land assets and the tiny painting of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
Besson’s Direction and Comic Flair
Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he willingly includes offering some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – such as Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as absurd moments that follow Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance in 18th-century Florence, which makes him irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula can be streamed online beginning on the first of December and for physical purchase from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
