Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Outlandish but Engaging

Maybe interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. Still, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer compared with the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, such as a scene that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz embodies a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. So does the evil Count Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone similar to Carell’s Gru character in the Despicable Me films. This is a part suits him perfectly.

The Story: A Saga of Heartbreak

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 penalty for his irreligious grief after the passing of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who could be the return of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman is revealed as Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the reserved future wife of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the vampire’s estate to review his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Humorous Style

Besson organizes Dracula’s second-act backstory of global roaming in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he doesn’t shy away from providing funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – such as Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to kill himself post-Elisabeta’s demise, as well as absurd moments that follow Dracula applies to himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, which makes him irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula can be streamed online from 1 December and for physical purchase from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.