Dracula Review – Besson’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Classic Horror Story is Outlandish but Engaging

Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. And yet, it’s worth noting: his richly designed love story with vampires 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 looks like it presents a land border between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz portrays a humorous yet burdened man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The same goes for the sinister Dracula, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect evoking Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. This is a part that he too was born to take on.

The Plot: A Tale of Love and Loss

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has been restlessly roaming the globe in torment for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a punishment for his irreligious grief over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has sought relentlessly for some woman who would be the rebirth of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his property portfolio and the tiny painting of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Direction and Lighthearted Touch

Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of international journeys sporting extravagant attire confidently, and he willingly includes providing some comedy moments with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, along with comical sequences that occur when Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him irresistible to women. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula can be streamed online beginning on the first of December and for physical purchase from December 22nd. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.