Dracula Review – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Watchable

Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. Still, it has to be said: his richly designed vampire romance has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable to it to Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that appears to show a geographic divide between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz embodies a witty yet careworn man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who ends up in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the sinister Dracula, played by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell of the Despicable Me series. This character that he too was born to take on.

The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss

The plot unfolds as follows: the count has wandered endlessly the globe in sorrow over four centuries following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence for his irreligious grief over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has looked tirelessly for some woman who would be the rebirth of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his property portfolio and the small picture of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair

Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he is not above providing funny bits reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself post-Elisabeta’s demise, in addition to farcical scenes that result after Dracula applies to himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and in disc format from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.