Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Passionate Revamp of the Gothic Classic is Outlandish but Watchable

Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for polished extravagance. Still, one must admit: his opulently crafted love story with vampires has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor to it to the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, including one shot that looks like it presents a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz plays a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – it feels natural for him to tackle this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The same goes for the malevolent vampire count, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell of the Despicable Me series. It’s a role suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the world in sorrow for 400 years following his rise as one of the undead, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has been searching, searching, searching for a female who could be the rebirth of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the count’s castle to review his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair

Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of worldwide travels sporting extravagant attire confidently, and he doesn’t shy away from offering funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – like Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, along with comical sequences that follow Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, that renders him irresistible to women. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is available digitally starting December 1st and for physical purchase from December 22nd. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.