Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Passionate Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Outlandish but Watchable
It’s possible interest is limited for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for polished extravagance. Still, it has to be said: his richly designed romantic vampire tale displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I might just favor over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, such as a scene that seems to depict a geographic divide between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz plays a witty yet careworn cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the sinister Dracula, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking the voice of Gru by Steve Carell in the Despicable Me films. This character suits him perfectly.
The Narrative: A Chronicle of Longing
The plot unfolds as follows: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the globe in anguish over four centuries following his rise as one of the undead, a penalty due to his blasphemous mourning after the passing of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who could be the return of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the vampire’s estate to review his real estate holdings and the small picture of the winsome Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.
The Filmmaker’s Approach and Humorous Style
Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from giving us some comedy moments with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as farcical scenes that follow Dracula applies to himself with a specific fragrance during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and on DVD and Blu-ray from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
