Dracula: A Love Tale (4 Stars)

Last week I watched the new version of "Frankenstein" in the cinema. Today I saw a new version of Dracula, directed by Luc Besson. Is this nostalgia for the classic horror films or just moneymaking? I hope it's the former.

The film's full title is "Dracula: A Love Tale", but it's being marketed as "Dracula", as in the poster above. It's always been a love story rather than a horror story. It's one of the most tragic love stories ever told, about a prince who loses his soul when God allows his wife to die. He's cursed to live forever, eternally waiting for his wife to return to him by reincarnation.

Luc Besson takes a lot of liberties with the original source material. We see some of the characters from the book, such as Jonathan Harker and his fiancée Mina, but most of the supporting characters are missing. In particular, Abraham Van Helsing has been replaced by an unnamed priest. Instead of taking place in England, the present day scenes are set in Paris. 

Despite the changes, it's a good film. I didn't immediately like it, the way I enjoyed Guillermo Del Toro's "Frankenstein". I need to watch it again.

It's interesting that Christoph Waltz appeared in both films, "Frankenstein" and "Dracula". Is he being pushed as a modern day replacement for Peter Cushing? I can see a similarity between the two actors, not in their appearance but in their dignified styles.