Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Classic Horror Story is Ridiculous but Engaging
Maybe audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for stylish excess. However, one must admit: his lavishly upholstered romantic vampire tale boasts bold vision and flair – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I might just favor over Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead
Christoph Waltz embodies a witty yet careworn vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. The same goes for the sinister Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. This character that he too was born to take on.
The Plot: A Tale of Love and Loss
The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has wandered endlessly the world in sorrow for 400 years after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence due to his blasphemous mourning after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). Dracula has looked tirelessly for some woman who would be the return of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to review his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
The Filmmaker’s Approach and Humorous Style
Besson structures Dracula’s second-act backstory of worldwide travels sporting extravagant attire skillfully, and he willingly includes offering humorous scenes in the style of Mel Brooks – like Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, in addition to farcical scenes that occur when Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, which causes him to be compelling to the opposite sex. Ridiculous and watchable.
Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and in disc format from December 22nd. It will be shown in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
