Dracula Review – Besson’s Love-Struck Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Outlandish but Entertaining

Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. However, it’s worth noting: his richly designed vampire romance displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable compared with the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, like a particular moment that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz portrays a humorous yet burdened man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. The same goes for the sinister Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. This is a part that he too was born to take on.

The Plot: A Tale of Love and Loss

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the globe in anguish over four centuries following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence for his faithless sorrow over the death of his beloved Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has been searching, searching, searching for a female who would be the rebirth of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the chosen woman is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the winsome Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style

Besson organizes Dracula’s second-act backstory of international journeys sporting extravagant attire confidently, and he is not above offering humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as absurd moments that follow Dracula douses himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.

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