Dracula Movie Critique – Luc Besson’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Classic Horror Story is Outlandish but Entertaining
Maybe interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for glossiness and bloat. And yet, one must admit: his opulently crafted vampire romance displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, 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 appears to show a land border between France and Romania.
The Veteran Actor as a Clever but Weary Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz embodies a clever but beleaguered man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect reminiscent of Carell’s Gru character of the Despicable Me series. This character that he too was born to take on.
The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss
Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the globe in sorrow over four centuries after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence for his faithless sorrow over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). Dracula has looked tirelessly for some woman who might be the return of his lost love. By cruel fate, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the count’s castle to discuss his property portfolio and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.
The Filmmaker’s Approach and Lighthearted Touch
Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of global roaming in various outrageous costumes confidently, and he doesn’t shy away from providing funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as farcical scenes that result after Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance in historic Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and on DVD and Blu-ray from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.
