Dracula Review – Besson’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Classic Horror Story is Outlandish but Engaging

Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for stylish excess. However, it has to be said: his richly designed vampire romance boasts bold vision and flair – and with its B-movie charm, it could be preferable over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone similar to Carell’s Gru character in the Despicable Me films. This character that he too was born to take on.

The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss

Here’s the premise: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the world in sorrow for 400 years since he became undead, a punishment for his faithless sorrow over the death of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has looked tirelessly for a lady who could be the reincarnation of his lost love. Unfortunately, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the count’s castle to negotiate his land assets and the tiny painting of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair

Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of global roaming wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he is not above giving us humorous scenes with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as absurd moments that occur when Dracula applies to himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be irresistible to women. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and for physical purchase from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.