A style-over-substance vampiric jaunt through the ages
From Tod Browning to Francis Ford Coppola, Werner Herzog and Robert Eggers to Mel Brooks, and many in between, filmmakers love to put their stamp on Bram Stoker’s Dracula and/or its German offspring, Nosferatu. It seems that just about every year the Dracula story gets reimagined. Step up to the plate, writer/director Luc Besson (Léon, The Fifth Element, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets). Besson imprints the traditional Dracula story with his trademark strangeness, choosing to emphasize both humor and gothic romanticism while filling the frame with strong production design. Though this new Dracula is far from dull, and even features a few standout performances, the film’s erratic style and tonality keep the final product from reaching the emotional and cinematic heights of its most memorable predecessors.
Though he’s been cleared of charges, from here on I’ll refrain from highlighting Dracula’s director due to multiple sexual harassment allegations. At its core, Dracula mostly follows Stoker’s book, though the script includes more time spent with Prince Vlad II Dracul (Caleb Landry Jones, Get Out) in the 1400s warring with Muslim tribes before losing his beloved wife, Elizabeta (Zoë Bleu, Gonzo Girl). Prince Dracul denounces God for his loss and in doing so, is cursed to vampiric immortality, obsessively searching and waiting for Elizabeta’s soul’s return. Four hundred years later, with a “Van Helsing” inspired vampire-hunting priest (Christoph Waltz) seeking to find him, Prince Dracul’s minions locate a lawyer’s fiancée in Paris, Mina (also Zoë Bleu), and identify her as Elizabeta’s reincarnated soul for their master to woo.
This version of Dracula is similar to Guillermo del Toro’s version of Frankenstein from last year. Both films emphasize the emotional plight of the “monster” and spend their best moments with the actors portraying him. Caleb Landry Jones is wonderful in Dracula. He is charming, sly, and surprisingly humorous in the role of a 400+ year old blood-thirsty romantic. Christoph Waltz has a handful of comical line deliveries as well, as his character deals with the supernatural in the most matter-of-fact blasé manner. Jones and Waltz are the sole lifeblood (pun intended) of Dracula; without their charisma and their efforts to emphasize the script’s meager emotional stakes (pun intended), Dracula would offer no relatable characters.
Dracula’s technical team pays homage to the sets and iconic costuming in Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but then takes the extravagance a few steps further. In this new version, we’re treated to vast armies in glinting armor and ballrooms filled with flowing gowns specific to various moments in time between the Tudor period into the Victorian era. The characters meet within gaudy castle chambers, voluminous dining halls, hospital offices and narrow passageways. The constant barrage of colors, sets, and costumes maintain our attention even as the dialogue struggles to keep up. On top of it all, legendary composer Danny Elfman provides an excellent soundtrack. Dracula’s baroque musical score launches with a playfully simple music box refrain and whimsically transports us along, ultimately arriving at a toweringly romantic crescendo by the film’s end. All of these technical elements keep Dracula lively and interesting, but its resonant emotional power is ultimately lacking. Despite the filmmaking team’s best efforts, the script is eager to stay light-footed, moving from one visual element to the next, leaving emotions half-baked.
Despite its shortcomings, but thanks to its strengths, Dracula is a worthwhile entry into a long legacy of cinematic interpretations of Stoker’s story. Like Jacob Elordi in del Toro’s Frankenstein, Caleb Landry Jones will emerge as the biggest winner from this film’s release, having delivered a noteworthy, pitch-perfect throwback performance, with a sprinkling of sexual and humorous allure. The rest of Dracula is a charming enough way to spend two hours if you can resurrect the title from its ultimate destination –your digital streamer’s deep library coffin.
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Dracula opens in theaters on Friday, Feb. 6th
