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

Maybe audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. And yet, one must admit: his lavishly upholstered love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer to it to the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, like a particular moment that appears to show a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz embodies a witty yet careworn cleric fighting vampires – it feels natural for him to tackle this character previously – who arrives in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the malevolent vampire count, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking Steve Carell’s Gru of the Despicable Me series. It’s a role that he too was born to take on.

The Story: A Saga of Heartbreak

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has been restlessly roaming the earth in anguish over four centuries since he became undead, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his beloved Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has been searching, searching, searching for a lady who could be the rebirth of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the count’s castle to discuss his property portfolio and the tiny painting of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Direction and Comic Flair

Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he is not above offering humorous scenes in the style of Mel Brooks – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, along with comical sequences that occur when Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and in disc format from December 22nd. It will be shown in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.