Dracula Review – Besson’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Ridiculous but Watchable

Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. Still, one must admit: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale has ambition and panache – and amid its theatrical camp, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, such as a scene that appears to show a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Clever but Weary Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who arrives in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the malevolent vampire count, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. This character that he too was born to take on.

The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the world in sorrow for hundreds of years since he became undead, a consequence for his irreligious grief after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has been searching, searching, searching for a female who would be the rebirth of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the count’s castle to negotiate his property portfolio and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits skillfully, and he is not above giving us humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – such as the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to end his own life after Elisabeta’s death, along with absurd moments that result after Dracula applies to himself with a specific fragrance in historic Florence, that renders him unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and for physical purchase starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.