Dracula Review – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Gothic Classic is Outlandish but Engaging

Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. And yet, it’s worth noting: his richly designed romantic vampire tale displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer to it to the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, such as a scene that looks like it presents a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz embodies a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – it feels natural for him to tackle such a part earlier – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the malevolent vampire count, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect similar to Carell’s Gru character in the Despicable Me films. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.

The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing

The story is this: the count has been restlessly roaming the globe in torment for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a punishment for his irreligious grief after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for some woman who might be the reincarnation of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Direction and Comic Flair

Besson arranges Dracula’s second-act backstory of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he willingly includes providing humorous scenes in the style of Mel Brooks – such as Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to kill himself post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with farcical scenes that result after Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, that renders him unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is available digitally starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.