Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Ridiculous but Engaging
It’s possible audiences aren’t clamoring for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for polished extravagance. And yet, it’s worth noting: his richly designed romantic vampire tale displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable over 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.
Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead
Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened man of the church pursuing the undead – it feels natural for him to tackle such a part earlier – who ends up in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect similar to Carell’s Gru character from the Despicable Me comedies. This is a part he seemed destined to play.
The Story: A Chronicle of Longing
The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has been restlessly roaming the globe in torment for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a punishment for his irreligious grief after the passing of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has been searching, searching, searching for a female who would be the reincarnation of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the chosen woman proves to be 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 count’s castle to negotiate his property portfolio and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
The Filmmaker’s Approach and Lighthearted Touch
Besson structures Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys in various outrageous costumes confidently, and he doesn’t shy away from providing some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to end his own life post-Elisabeta’s demise, as well as absurd moments that result after Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in historic Florence, that renders him compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula can be streamed online beginning on the first of December and on DVD and Blu-ray from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
