Dracula Review – The French Director’s Romantic Reimagining of the Gothic Classic is Absurd but Engaging

It’s possible audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. However, it’s worth noting: his richly designed love story with vampires boasts bold vision and flair – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz portrays a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. So does the evil Count Dracula, brought to life by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. This character he seemed destined to play.

The Plot: A Tale of Love and Loss

Here’s the premise: Dracula has been restlessly roaming the world in torment for 400 years after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence due to his blasphemous mourning after the passing of his spouse Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has looked tirelessly for a female who could be the return of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his land assets and the small picture of the winsome Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Lighthearted Touch

Besson arranges Dracula’s flashback sequence of worldwide travels in various outrageous costumes confidently, and he willingly includes offering funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – such as Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to end his own life following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as comical sequences that occur when Dracula applies to himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It plays in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.