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

Maybe audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. However, one must admit: his opulently crafted love story with vampires has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the evil Count Dracula, brought to life by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell in the Despicable Me films. It’s a role suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Tale of Love and Loss

The plot unfolds as follows: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the globe in torment for 400 years since he became undead, a penalty for his faithless sorrow over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for a female who might be the reincarnation of his lost love. By cruel fate, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the count’s castle to negotiate his property portfolio and the tiny painting of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys in various outrageous costumes confidently, and he doesn’t shy away from offering some comedy moments in the style of Mel Brooks – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life after Elisabeta’s death, along with farcical scenes that occur when Dracula applies to himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula can be streamed online from 1 December and for physical purchase from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.