Dracula Review – The French Director’s Passionate Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Engaging

Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for polished extravagance. Still, it has to be said: his lavishly upholstered vampire romance displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, like a particular moment that seems to depict a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Clever but Weary Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz embodies a witty yet careworn vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who ends up in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking the voice of Gru by Steve Carell of the Despicable Me series. It’s a role suits him perfectly.

The Narrative: A Saga of Heartbreak

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the earth in anguish for 400 years following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence for his faithless sorrow following the loss of his spouse Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has sought relentlessly for a female who might be the return of his departed beloved. Unfortunately, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the winsome Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Comic Flair

Besson structures Dracula’s second-act backstory of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he is not above giving us some comedy moments in the style of Mel Brooks – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to kill himself following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as comical sequences that result after Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and in disc format from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.