Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Passionate Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Watchable

Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for glossiness and bloat. And yet, one must admit: his opulently crafted love story with vampires has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, it could be preferable 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 territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Clever but Weary Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz plays a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. The same goes for the evil Count Dracula, brought to life by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking Steve Carell’s Gru of the Despicable Me series. This character that he too was born to take on.

The Story: A Saga of Heartbreak

The story is this: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the earth in torment for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment for his irreligious grief after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). Dracula has sought relentlessly for some woman who would be the return of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the count’s castle to negotiate his land assets and whose miniature portrait of the winsome Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Direction and Lighthearted Touch

Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of international journeys sporting extravagant attire skillfully, and he doesn’t shy away from offering humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to absurd moments that occur when Dracula applies to himself in a certain perfume in historic Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is on digital platforms starting December 1st and for physical purchase starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.