Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Passionate Revamp of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Outlandish but Entertaining

Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for polished extravagance. Still, one must admit: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale displays creativity and style – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor compared with Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, including one shot that looks like it presents a geographic divide between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – it feels natural for him to tackle such a part earlier – who ends up in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the evil Count Dracula, brought to life by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone similar to the voice of Gru by Steve Carell of the Despicable Me series. This is a part that he too was born to take on.

The Story: A Chronicle of Longing

The story is this: Dracula has wandered endlessly the earth in sorrow for 400 years following his rise as one of the undead, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who might be the rebirth of his deceased partner. By cruel fate, the fortunate female turns out to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to discuss his property portfolio and the tiny painting of the lovely Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Humorous Style

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of global roaming in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from providing humorous scenes with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – like Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to end his own life following Elisabeta’s passing, in addition to comical sequences that result after Dracula douses himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, that renders him compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and for physical purchase from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.