Dracula

Luc Besson’s take on Bram Stoker’s classic is careful to keep it familiar but also more than content to adapt it for his own unique interpretation of the story.

Opening in 1480 Vlad (Caleb Landry Jones) is lustfully humping Princess Elizabeta (Zoë Bleu) when he’s pulled away, forced into armour and into battle against Muslim invaders. This is after he has asked the priest to bless him and ensure that the Princess, under God’s watch, is kept alive. His victory is emphatic then totally outweighed by the loss of his one true love, and then his utter rejection of Christianity.

Moving forward 400 years to Paris a priest played by Christophe Waltz arrives at an asylum to deal with a novel case. A bride to be at a high society wedding suddenly went mad and sectioned. Maria (Matilda de Angelis) is chained but in a playful mood baring fangs and lashing her tongue. The priest confirms that Maria is a vampire, she in turn warns that her master is on his way.

Meanwhile Harker (Ewens Abid) is in Romania to conclude some property business with the Count. At night he is warned to stay in his room, he doesn’t and is captured by gargoyle servants/sentinels. His life is spared when Dracula notices the incredible likeness between Harker’s fiancé Mina (also played by Bleu). Sensing his centuries long search for his love coming to an end he travels to Paris.

Besson has kept the best known elements of the tale intact but then taken a few liberties too. The Count’s travels through Europe’s courts are shown via dance routines. Characters are changed or dispensed with; Waltz’s priest is Van Helsing in all but name, and Maria appears to be an amalgam of Renfield and Lucy Westerna. There’s no Demeter, just a stop at a convent where Dracula proves too much of a temptation for the nuns.

That is one of a number of masterful set pieces along with the court dances, that Besson has conjured up. They fit perfectly within a film that at times has as the essence of a camp fairytale.

Waltz barely plays his role straight, while Abid is the loser comic relief. De Angelis relishes her role as the bon-vivant and lusty Maria. But it’s kept from complete Carry On by Landry Jones and Bleu who, when together, keep it straight, virtually unaffected by the antics around them.

There is blood and violence though maybe not as much as expected until towards the end. One point is that Dracula no longer has his three brides – rather many followers whom he turned to search for Elizabeta. In the castle he has a lot of comically rendered gargoyles.

There are some theological exchanges about God’s will and that even as evil as Dracula has become, that is God’s will. That however this doesn’t distract from this very enjoyable version of a very well-known story.

Dracula will be available on Digital HD from 1 December 2025, and DVD & Blu-ray 22 December. Distributed by Signature Entertainment.