Dracula Review – Besson’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Classic Horror Story is Absurd but Engaging
Maybe audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. And yet, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted vampire romance has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, like a particular moment that seems to depict a geographic divide between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Priest Tracking the Undead
Christoph Waltz plays a witty yet careworn 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. So does the malevolent vampire count, enacted by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking the voice of Gru by Steve Carell of the Despicable Me series. This is a part suits him perfectly.
The Story: A Chronicle of Longing
The plot unfolds as follows: the count has been restlessly roaming the globe in sorrow for 400 years following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence for his faithless sorrow over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has looked tirelessly for some woman who might be the return of his deceased partner. By cruel fate, the chosen woman is revealed as Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the count’s castle to review his land assets and the small picture of the winsome Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair
Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he is not above giving us humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – for example the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to absurd moments that result after Dracula applies to himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, which causes him to be compelling to the opposite sex. Ridiculous and watchable.
Dracula is available digitally beginning on the first of December and in disc format from 22 December. It plays in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
