Dracula Review – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Gothic Classic is Ridiculous but Watchable
Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for stylish excess. Still, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted vampire romance boasts bold vision and flair – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that appears to show a territorial boundary between France and Romania.
The Veteran Actor as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest
Christoph Waltz plays a witty yet careworn man of the church pursuing the undead – it feels natural for him to tackle such a part earlier – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the sinister Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone similar to Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. This character he seemed destined to play.
The Plot: A Saga of Heartbreak
Here’s the premise: Dracula has wandered endlessly the world in anguish over four centuries after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his beloved Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for some woman who could be the rebirth of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female proves to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to discuss his property portfolio and the small picture of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style
Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of global roaming wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he is not above offering funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to absurd moments that result after Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and in disc format from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.
