Dracula Review – The French Director’s Passionate Reimagining of the Classic Horror Story is Absurd but Engaging
Maybe audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. And yet, it has to be said: his richly designed vampire romance displays creativity and style – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a land border between France and Romania.
Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – it’s surprising he never took on this role before – who arrives in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the evil Count Dracula, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell in the Despicable Me films. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.
The Narrative: A Saga of Heartbreak
Here’s the premise: the count has traveled ceaselessly the world in sorrow for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment for his irreligious grief after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). Dracula has sought relentlessly for a female who would be the return of his lost love. By cruel fate, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the reserved future wife of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his land assets and the small picture of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
The Filmmaker’s Approach and Humorous Style
Besson structures Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from providing some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with comical sequences that occur when Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent during the 1700s in Florence, which causes him to be irresistible to women. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
