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Luc Besson's 'Dracula' Paints Him as a Lovelorn Vampire Nursing a 400-Year-Old Crush
French director Luc Besson reinterprets Dracula as a lovesick warrior and romantic martyr, blending historical themes and new subplots while maintaining Bram Stoker's novel foundation.
- On February 6, Vertical released Luc Besson's Dracula in the U.S., starring Caleb Landry Jones as a romantic, martyrlike vampire rather than a mere monster.
- Because Bram Stoker's 1897 novel is in the public domain, Besson takes liberties, relocating scenes to 1889 Paris and linking the Count to the French Revolution, as critics note.
- Visually, the film opens with a 15-minute prologue showing Vlad's battle and Elisabeta's death, then jumps to 1889 Paris with flashbacks, featuring CGI gargoyles and operatic performances.
- Reviewers found the film rarely frightening and criticized its distracted, overlong script running more than two hours, while American audiences see it as watchable but unsatisfying.
- Given Besson's history, viewers must reckon with allegations of sexual assault and a contentious marriage while the film enters a crowded lineage of more than 200 Dracula films.
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‘Dracula’ Review: Caleb Landry Jones Is a Stylishly Fey Dracula — Gary Oldman Redux — in Luc Besson’s Otherwise Wan Potboiler
For too long now (it’s starting to feel like 1,000 years), Dracula movies have been an industry, a monster brand unto themselves. At this point, it’s like seeing the umpteenth version of a Shakespeare warhorse or a musical like “Annie” — what is there left to discover? The saga of Dracula has become an endless rerun. And even if you don’t feel like you’ve already lived through a century’s worth of Dracula movies, and that they’ve wrung this stor…
·Los Angeles, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources15
Leaning Left5Leaning Right1Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution72% Left
Bias Distribution
- 72% of the sources lean Left
72% Left
L 72%
14%
14%
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