Dracula Review – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reinterpretation of the Gothic Classic is Ridiculous but Watchable
Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for polished extravagance. And yet, it’s worth noting: his richly designed love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, like a particular moment that appears to show a geographic divide between France and Romania.
Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Priest Tracking the Undead
Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.
The Narrative: A Chronicle of Longing
The plot unfolds as follows: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the world in torment for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a penalty due to his blasphemous mourning after the passing of his wife, Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for a lady who might be the reincarnation of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the count’s castle to discuss his land assets and the tiny painting of the charming Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style
Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming sporting extravagant attire with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from providing humorous scenes with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, along with farcical scenes that follow Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance during the 1700s in Florence, that renders him compelling to the opposite sex. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula is available digitally starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
