Dracula Review – Besson’s Passionate Reinterpretation of the Classic Horror Story is Outlandish but Engaging
Perhaps interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for polished extravagance. However, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted vampire romance boasts bold vision and flair – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer to it to Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest
Christoph Waltz plays 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, brought to life by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. This character he seemed destined to play.
The Story: A Chronicle of Longing
The plot unfolds as follows: the vampire lord has been restlessly roaming the earth in anguish for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence for his irreligious grief over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). the vampire has been searching, searching, searching for a female who might be the return of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the vampire’s estate to discuss his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
The Filmmaker’s Approach and Lighthearted Touch
Besson arranges Dracula’s flashback sequence of international journeys in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he is not above offering humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to kill himself post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with absurd moments that result after Dracula douses himself with a specific fragrance in historic Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and for physical purchase starting the twenty-second of December. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.