Dracula Review – Besson’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Gothic Classic is Ridiculous but Watchable

Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. And yet, one must admit: his richly designed vampire romance has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I might just favor compared with Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a geographic divide between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. The same goes for the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of Carell’s Gru character in the Despicable Me films. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.

The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: the count has wandered endlessly the globe in sorrow over four centuries following his rise as one of the undead, a punishment for his faithless sorrow following the loss of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). the vampire has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who might be the return of his deceased partner. By cruel fate, the fortunate female proves to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to Dracula’s fortress to discuss his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits skillfully, and he willingly includes giving us humorous scenes with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to end his own life following Elisabeta’s passing, along with absurd moments that follow Dracula douses himself using a particular scent during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula can be streamed online from 1 December and for physical purchase from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.