Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Passionate Reimagining of the Classic Horror Story is Outlandish but Watchable
Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for stylish excess. Still, one must admit: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale displays creativity and style – and with its B-movie charm, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, such as a scene that looks like it presents a geographic divide between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires
Christoph Waltz embodies a witty yet careworn vampire-hunting priest – it feels natural for him to tackle this role before – who ends up in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the evil Count Dracula, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. This character that he too was born to take on.
The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing
The plot unfolds as follows: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the earth in anguish for 400 years since he became undead, a penalty due to his blasphemous mourning over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). Dracula has been searching, searching, searching for a lady who would be the reincarnation of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (again played by Bleu), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to review his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style
Besson organizes Dracula’s second-act backstory of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he willingly includes giving us some comedy moments with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – like the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to end his own life post-Elisabeta’s demise, in addition to absurd moments that result after Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him irresistible to women. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula can be streamed online from 1 December and in disc format starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
