Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. However, it has to be said: his opulently crafted vampire romance boasts bold vision and flair – and with its B-movie charm, it could be preferable over Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, such as a scene that looks like it presents a land border between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz portrays a witty yet careworn man of the church pursuing the undead – 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. Likewise present is the malevolent vampire count, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. This is a part that he too was born to take on.
The plot unfolds as follows: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the globe in anguish for 400 years after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence for his faithless sorrow after the passing of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). the vampire has sought relentlessly for a lady who could be the rebirth of his lost love. Unfortunately, the fortunate female turns out to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the count’s castle to discuss his land assets and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.
Besson structures Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits skillfully, and he willingly includes giving us funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with absurd moments that follow Dracula applies to himself with a specific fragrance during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.
Dracula can be streamed online beginning on the first of December and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.
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