Dracula Review – Besson’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Ridiculous but Engaging

Perhaps interest is limited for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. However, it has to be said: his richly designed vampire romance boasts bold vision and flair – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz embodies a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the evil Count Dracula, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell in the Despicable Me films. This character that he too was born to take on.

The Narrative: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: Dracula has wandered endlessly the earth in anguish for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence due to his blasphemous mourning over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). Dracula has sought relentlessly for a female who might be the reincarnation of his deceased partner. Unfortunately, the lucky lady turns out to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the count’s castle to negotiate his real estate holdings and the tiny painting of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Lighthearted Touch

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys sporting extravagant attire with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from offering some comedy moments in the style of Mel Brooks – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life after Elisabeta’s death, along with absurd moments that result after Dracula douses himself using a particular scent in historic Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is on digital platforms starting December 1st and in disc format from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.