Dracula Review – The French Director’s Passionate Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Engaging

Maybe interest is limited for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. Still, one must admit: his lavishly upholstered romantic vampire tale boasts bold vision and flair – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable to it to Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, such as a scene that appears to show a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz plays a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who ends up in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the malevolent vampire count, enacted by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to the voice of Gru by Steve Carell in the Despicable Me films. This character that he too was born to take on.

The Story: A Chronicle of Longing

The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the earth in sorrow for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment for his irreligious grief following the loss of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has looked tirelessly for a female who might be the reincarnation of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to discuss his property portfolio and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Handling and Lighthearted Touch

Besson structures Dracula’s second-act backstory of international journeys in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he is not above offering some comedy moments with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to comical sequences that follow Dracula douses himself with a specific fragrance during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is available digitally starting December 1st and in disc format starting the twenty-second of December. It plays in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.