Dracula Review – Besson’s Romantic Revamp of the Gothic Classic is Ridiculous but Watchable
It’s possible interest is limited for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. Still, one must admit: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor compared with the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers 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 embodies a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who ends up in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the sinister Dracula, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. This is a part he seemed destined to play.
The Story: A Saga of Heartbreak
The plot unfolds as follows: the count has traveled ceaselessly the world in sorrow for 400 years following his rise as one of the undead, a penalty for his faithless sorrow following the loss of his beloved Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has sought relentlessly for a lady who would be the return of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to review his property portfolio and the tiny painting of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.
The Filmmaker’s Approach and Lighthearted Touch
Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from offering funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to comical sequences that occur when Dracula douses himself with a specific fragrance in 18th-century Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.
Dracula is on digital platforms starting December 1st and in disc format starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.