Dracula Review – The French Director’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Watchable

It’s possible interest is limited for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. However, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale has ambition and panache – and amid its theatrical camp, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer compared with the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, like a particular moment that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz plays a clever but beleaguered man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the malevolent vampire count, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect similar to Steve Carell’s Gru of the Despicable Me series. This character that he too was born to take on.

The Narrative: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has been restlessly roaming the earth in torment over four centuries after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence for his faithless sorrow over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has looked tirelessly for a lady who might be the rebirth of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the fortunate female proves to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to discuss his real estate holdings and the tiny painting of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair

Besson arranges Dracula’s second-act backstory of global roaming sporting extravagant attire skillfully, and he willingly includes offering humorous scenes in the style of Mel Brooks – like Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, in addition to absurd moments that result after Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance in 18th-century Florence, that renders him irresistible to women. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and in disc format from 22 December. It plays in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.