Dracula Review – The French Director’s Romantic Revamp of the Gothic Classic is Ridiculous but Entertaining

Perhaps interest is limited for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for glossiness and bloat. Still, one must admit: his lavishly upholstered vampire romance displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor compared with Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, such as a scene that looks like it presents a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who ends up in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The same goes for the sinister Dracula, played by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect similar to the voice of Gru by Steve Carell of the Despicable Me series. It’s a role suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Tale of Love and Loss

The plot unfolds as follows: the count has traveled ceaselessly the globe in sorrow for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence for his irreligious grief after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has sought relentlessly for some woman who would be the rebirth of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the reserved future wife of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the count’s castle to negotiate his property portfolio and the small picture of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of worldwide travels in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he willingly includes giving us funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, along with absurd moments that occur when Dracula applies to himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, that renders him unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is available digitally beginning on the first of December and in disc format from December 22nd. It will be shown in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.