Dracula Movie Critique – Luc Besson’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Classic Horror Story is Outlandish but Watchable
Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for glossiness and bloat. And yet, one must admit: his opulently crafted vampire romance has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, like a particular moment that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.
The Veteran Actor as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz portrays a witty yet careworn cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. So does the malevolent vampire count, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone similar to Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. This is a part he seemed destined to play.
The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss
The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the world in anguish for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a penalty for his faithless sorrow over the death of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has looked tirelessly for a lady who might be the reincarnation of his deceased partner. By cruel fate, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to discuss his land assets and the tiny painting of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair
Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of international journeys sporting extravagant attire with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from providing humorous scenes with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself post-Elisabeta’s demise, as well as absurd moments that occur when Dracula douses himself with a specific fragrance during the 1700s in Florence, that renders him unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula can be streamed online beginning on the first of December and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
