Dracula Movie Critique – Besson’s Romantic Revamp of the Gothic Classic is Absurd but Entertaining
Maybe interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. However, it has to be said: his opulently crafted vampire romance has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable to it to Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, including one shot that appears to show a territorial boundary between France and Romania.
The Veteran Actor as a Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – it feels natural for him to tackle this role before – who arrives in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. So does the evil Count Dracula, brought to life by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone similar to Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. This is a part suits him perfectly.
The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss
The story is this: the count has traveled ceaselessly the world in anguish for 400 years after his transformation into a vampire, a penalty for his faithless sorrow over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has sought relentlessly for a lady who would be the rebirth of his deceased partner. By cruel fate, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
The Filmmaker’s Approach and Humorous Style
Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from offering funny bits in the style 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 follow Dracula douses himself with a specific fragrance in historic Florence, that renders him irresistible to women. Ridiculous and watchable.
Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
