Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Passionate Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Entertaining
It’s possible audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. However, one must admit: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor to it to Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, including one shot that looks like it presents a geographic divide between France and Romania.
The Veteran Actor as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest
Christoph Waltz portrays a witty yet careworn vampire-hunting priest – it feels natural for him to tackle this role before – who arrives in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the sinister Dracula, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.
The Narrative: A Saga of Heartbreak
The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has been restlessly roaming the earth in torment for 400 years since he became undead, a penalty for his irreligious grief after the passing of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). Dracula has looked tirelessly for a female who would be the reincarnation of his deceased partner. Unfortunately, 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 has recently been to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his land assets and the small picture of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair
Besson arranges Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he is not above offering funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – like the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to end his own life after Elisabeta’s death, as well as absurd moments that occur when Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula is on digital platforms starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It plays in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
