Dracula Review – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Classic Horror Story is Outlandish but Engaging

Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. And yet, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted love story with vampires has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, it could be preferable over Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that appears to show a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – it’s surprising he never took on such a part earlier – who ends up in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the sinister Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. This character suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: the count has wandered endlessly the earth in sorrow for 400 years since he became undead, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has been searching, searching, searching for a lady who would be the rebirth of his deceased partner. By cruel fate, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the count’s castle to negotiate his land assets and the small picture of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Direction and Lighthearted Touch

Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming sporting extravagant attire skillfully, and he willingly includes providing humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with absurd moments that occur when Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, which causes him to be irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is available digitally beginning on the first of December and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.