Dracula Review – Besson’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Gothic Classic is Absurd but Engaging
Maybe interest is limited for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. And yet, one must admit: his lavishly upholstered romantic vampire tale displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, including one shot that looks like it presents a geographic divide between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking Carell’s Gru character of the Despicable Me series. It’s a role that he too was born to take on.
The Narrative: A Tale of Love and Loss
The story is this: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the earth in anguish for 400 years since he became undead, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). the vampire has sought relentlessly for a lady who could be the return of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to discuss his property portfolio and the small picture of the charming Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
The Filmmaker’s Approach and Comic Flair
Besson structures Dracula’s middle-section history of global roaming wearing flamboyant outfits skillfully, and he willingly includes providing humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to end his own life following Elisabeta’s passing, along with farcical scenes that follow Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume in historic Florence, which makes him irresistible to women. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula is available digitally beginning on the first of December and on DVD and Blu-ray from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.
