Dracula Review – Besson’s Passionate Reinterpretation of the Classic Horror Story is Ridiculous but Watchable

Maybe interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for polished extravagance. Still, one must admit: his richly designed love story with vampires has ambition and panache – and amid its theatrical camp, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, like a particular moment that seems to depict a geographic divide between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Witty Yet Careworn Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the malevolent vampire count, brought to life by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role suits him perfectly.

The Narrative: A Saga of Heartbreak

The story is this: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the world in torment for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence due to his blasphemous mourning over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has looked tirelessly for some woman who would be the rebirth of his departed beloved. Unfortunately, the fortunate female proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to review his land assets and the small picture of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of global roaming sporting extravagant attire with a sure hand, and he willingly includes offering some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – such as Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to end his own life following Elisabeta’s passing, in addition to comical sequences that occur when Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.