Dracula Review – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reinterpretation of the Gothic Classic is Outlandish but Watchable

It’s possible audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. Still, it has to be said: his richly designed love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and with its B-movie charm, it could be preferable to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, such as a scene that looks like it presents a land border between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – it feels natural for him to tackle such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for 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 from the Despicable Me comedies. This is a part that he too was born to take on.

The Narrative: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the world in torment over four centuries following his rise as one of the undead, a penalty due to his blasphemous mourning after the passing of his wife, Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has been searching, searching, searching for a female who would be the rebirth of his lost love. Unfortunately, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to Dracula’s fortress to review his property portfolio and the tiny painting of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson structures Dracula’s second-act backstory of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he doesn’t shy away from offering funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to end his own life after Elisabeta’s death, as well as farcical scenes that follow Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume in historic Florence, that renders him compelling to the opposite sex. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and for physical purchase from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.