Dracula Review – Besson’s Romantic Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Engaging

Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for stylish excess. However, it’s worth noting: his lavishly upholstered romantic vampire tale has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a land border between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz embodies a clever but beleaguered man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. So does the sinister Dracula, played by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking Carell’s Gru character in the Despicable Me films. This character that he too was born to take on.

The Narrative: A Saga of Heartbreak

Here’s the premise: the count has been restlessly roaming the earth in sorrow over four centuries after his transformation into a vampire, a penalty for his irreligious grief after the passing of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who could be the rebirth of his departed beloved. Unfortunately, the fortunate female turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the count’s castle to discuss his land assets and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson arranges Dracula’s flashback sequence of worldwide travels sporting extravagant attire skillfully, and he doesn’t shy away from offering humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to comical sequences that result after Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.