Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Classic Horror Story is Outlandish but Watchable

Maybe audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. Still, it has to be said: his richly designed romantic vampire tale has ambition and panache – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor over Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, such as a scene that seems to depict a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Clever but Weary Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered man of the church pursuing the undead – it feels natural for him to tackle such a part earlier – who ends up in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. The same goes for the sinister Dracula, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing

The story is this: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the world in sorrow for 400 years following his rise as one of the undead, a penalty due to his blasphemous mourning after the passing of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has sought relentlessly for a lady who could be the rebirth of his lost love. By cruel fate, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the reserved future wife of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to review his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Humorous Style

Besson arranges Dracula’s flashback sequence of worldwide travels in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from offering some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, in addition to comical sequences that follow Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance in historic Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula can be streamed online beginning on the first of December and on DVD and Blu-ray from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.