Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Gothic Classic is Outlandish but Watchable
Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. However, one must admit: his opulently crafted vampire romance boasts bold vision and flair – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers 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 Vampire-Hunting Priest
Christoph Waltz portrays a witty yet careworn cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of Carell’s Gru character in the Despicable Me films. This is a part he seemed destined to play.
The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss
The story is this: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the world in anguish for 400 years since he became undead, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has been searching, searching, searching for a lady who could be the reincarnation of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to discuss his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.
Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style
Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels sporting extravagant attire with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from providing humorous scenes with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to end his own life post-Elisabeta’s demise, as well as absurd moments that follow Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume in historic Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and in disc format from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
