Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Romantic Revamp of the Classic Horror Story is Outlandish but Engaging

Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. Still, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale boasts bold vision and flair – and amid its theatrical camp, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer to it to Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, including one shot that seems to depict a geographic divide between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz embodies a witty yet careworn cleric fighting vampires – it feels natural for him to tackle such a part earlier – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. So does the evil Count Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect evoking the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. This character he seemed destined to play.

The Story: A Saga of Heartbreak

The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the world in sorrow for 400 years following his rise as one of the undead, a punishment for his faithless sorrow over the death of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who could be the return of his deceased partner. By cruel fate, the chosen woman turns out to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to discuss his land assets and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Lighthearted Touch

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits skillfully, and he willingly includes giving us some comedy moments with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – like Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, along with absurd moments that result after Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, that renders him unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula can be streamed online from 1 December and for physical purchase from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.