Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Love-Struck Revamp 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 glossiness and bloat. And yet, it has to be said: his lavishly upholstered vampire romance has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable compared with the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, including one shot that appears to show a territorial boundary between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead
Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – it’s surprising he never took on this character previously – who ends up in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. The same goes for the sinister Dracula, enacted by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect evoking Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. This character he seemed destined to play.
The Story: A Chronicle of Longing
Here’s the premise: Dracula has wandered endlessly the earth in sorrow for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has sought relentlessly for a lady who would be the rebirth of his deceased partner. By cruel fate, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to discuss his real estate holdings and the tiny painting of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.
Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style
Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he is not above providing some comedy moments in the style of Mel Brooks – such as the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, as well as absurd moments that result after Dracula applies to himself using a particular scent during the 1700s in Florence, that renders him compelling to the opposite sex. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula is available digitally starting December 1st and in disc format from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.
