Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Gothic Classic is Outlandish but Engaging

Perhaps interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for glossiness and bloat. Still, one must admit: his richly designed vampire romance displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable compared with Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, like a particular moment that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz embodies a witty yet careworn man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who arrives in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the malevolent vampire count, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking Carell’s Gru character from the Despicable Me comedies. This is a part that he too was born to take on.

The Story: A Saga of Heartbreak

Here’s the premise: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the world in sorrow for hundreds of years since he became undead, a penalty due to his blasphemous mourning after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). Dracula has looked tirelessly for some woman who would be the return of his lost love. Unfortunately, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (again played by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to review his real estate holdings and the small picture of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Direction and Comic Flair

Besson arranges Dracula’s second-act backstory of international journeys in various outrageous costumes confidently, and he is not above offering humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, as well as farcical scenes that result after Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and in disc format from December 22nd. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.