Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Classic Horror Story is Ridiculous but Watchable

Maybe audiences aren’t clamoring for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for stylish excess. However, it has to be said: his opulently crafted vampire romance has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that appears to show a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

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

Christoph Waltz portrays a witty yet careworn man of the church pursuing the undead – it feels natural for him to tackle such a part earlier – who ends up in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect similar to Carell’s Gru character from the Despicable Me comedies. This character he seemed destined to play.

The Plot: A Saga of Heartbreak

The plot unfolds as follows: the count has traveled ceaselessly the world in sorrow over four centuries following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence for his faithless sorrow after the passing of his spouse Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for a female who could be the return of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman turns out to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to review his land assets and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Lighthearted Touch

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of global roaming in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he willingly includes giving us humorous scenes in the style of Mel Brooks – like the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as farcical scenes that result after Dracula douses himself with a specific fragrance in 18th-century Florence, that renders him compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is on digital platforms starting December 1st and for physical purchase from 22 December. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.