Dracula Movie Critique – Besson’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Classic Horror Story is Absurd but Engaging
It’s possible audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for glossiness and bloat. However, it’s worth noting: his richly designed love story with vampires boasts bold vision and flair – and with its B-movie charm, it could be preferable to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.
The Veteran Actor as a Clever but Weary Vampire-Hunting Priest
Christoph Waltz portrays a witty yet careworn man of the church pursuing the undead – it feels natural for him to tackle 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, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role suits him perfectly.
The Narrative: A Chronicle of Longing
The story is this: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the globe in torment for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a penalty for his faithless sorrow over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). Dracula has looked tirelessly for some woman who could be the reincarnation of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the count’s castle to negotiate his land assets and the small picture of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style
Besson arranges Dracula’s flashback sequence of worldwide travels in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he is not above offering some comedy moments in the style of Mel Brooks – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as farcical scenes that occur when Dracula applies to himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
