Dracula Review – The French Director’s Passionate Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale 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. However, it has to be said: his opulently crafted vampire romance has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor to it to Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that looks like it presents a land border between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz embodies a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who ends up in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the malevolent vampire count, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect similar to Steve Carell’s Gru of the Despicable Me series. This character suits him perfectly.

The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss

The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has wandered endlessly the earth in sorrow for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has sought relentlessly for a lady who could be the rebirth of his departed beloved. Unfortunately, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the reserved future wife of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to discuss his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair

Besson structures Dracula’s second-act backstory of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits skillfully, and he doesn’t shy away from offering funny bits reminiscent of Mel Brooks – for example the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, along with comical sequences that follow Dracula douses himself with a specific fragrance in 18th-century Florence, that renders him unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is available digitally starting December 1st and for physical purchase from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.