Dracula Review – The French Director’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Ridiculous but Engaging

Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for glossiness and bloat. Still, it has to be said: his richly designed vampire romance displays creativity and style – and with its B-movie charm, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that seems to depict a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the sinister Dracula, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone similar to Steve Carell’s Gru of the Despicable Me series. This is a part he seemed destined to play.

The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the globe in sorrow for 400 years after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for some woman who would be the rebirth of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to review his property portfolio and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style

Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he is not above offering some comedy moments in the style of Mel Brooks – for example the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as absurd moments that result after Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is available digitally starting December 1st and in disc format starting the twenty-second of December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.