Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Passionate Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Engaging
Perhaps interest is limited for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. However, it has to be said: his lavishly upholstered romantic vampire tale has ambition and panache – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor compared with Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, such as a scene that looks like it presents a geographic divide between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead
Christoph Waltz portrays a witty yet careworn cleric fighting vampires – 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, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of Carell’s Gru character of the Despicable Me series. This character that he too was born to take on.
The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing
The story is this: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the world in torment 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 first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who would be the rebirth of his deceased partner. Unfortunately, the chosen woman is revealed as Mina (again played by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his property portfolio and the small picture of the lovely Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.
Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair
Besson arranges Dracula’s flashback sequence of international journeys in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he doesn’t shy away from providing funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with comical sequences that occur when Dracula applies to himself using a particular scent during the 1700s in Florence, which causes him to be irresistible to women. Ridiculous and watchable.
Dracula can be streamed online from 1 December and for physical purchase from December 22nd. It screens in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.
