Dracula Review – The French Director’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Classic Horror Story is Ridiculous but Engaging
Maybe interest is limited for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. However, it’s worth noting: his lavishly upholstered love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor compared with Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, like a particular moment that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Priest Tracking the Undead
Christoph Waltz portrays a humorous yet burdened man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the malevolent vampire count, enacted by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell in the Despicable Me films. 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 count has traveled ceaselessly the earth in anguish for hundreds of years since he became undead, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his wife, Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has been searching, searching, searching for a lady who might be the reincarnation of his lost love. By cruel fate, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson’s Direction and Lighthearted Touch
Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he willingly includes providing some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as comical sequences that follow Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance during the 1700s in Florence, that renders him irresistible to women. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and for physical purchase from December 22nd. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
