Dracula Movie Critique – Besson’s Love-Struck Reinterpretation of the Classic Horror Story is Ridiculous but Watchable
Maybe audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. And yet, one must admit: his opulently crafted love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor compared with the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a territorial boundary between France and Romania.
Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Vampire-Hunting Priest
Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the malevolent vampire count, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role that he too was born to take on.
The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss
The plot unfolds as follows: the count has wandered endlessly the world in sorrow for 400 years after his transformation into a vampire, a penalty for his irreligious grief following the loss of his spouse Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who might be the rebirth of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the count’s castle to review his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.
The Filmmaker’s Approach and Comic Flair
Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming sporting extravagant attire confidently, and he doesn’t shy away from giving us funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – such as the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself post-Elisabeta’s demise, as well as comical sequences that follow Dracula douses himself using a particular scent in historic Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and on DVD and Blu-ray from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.
