Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Passionate Reinterpretation of the Classic Horror Story is Absurd but Entertaining

Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. Still, it has to be said: his lavishly upholstered vampire romance has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, like a particular moment that seems to depict a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Clever but Weary Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz plays a witty yet careworn 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 sinister Dracula, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect similar to Carell’s Gru character of the Despicable Me series. It’s a role suits him perfectly.

The Narrative: A Tale of Love and Loss

Here’s the premise: Dracula has wandered endlessly the earth in sorrow for hundreds of years since he became undead, a punishment for his irreligious grief over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has been searching, searching, searching for a lady who could be the rebirth of his departed beloved. Unfortunately, the lucky lady turns out to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the modest betrothed of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the count’s castle to discuss his real estate holdings and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson structures Dracula’s second-act backstory of international journeys sporting extravagant attire confidently, and he is not above giving us funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – such as the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself following Elisabeta’s passing, in addition to comical sequences that occur when Dracula applies to himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, that renders him irresistible to women. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray from December 22nd. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.