Dracula Review – The French Director’s Passionate Revamp of the Gothic Classic is Outlandish but Watchable

It’s possible interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. Still, it has to be said: his lavishly upholstered love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor to it to Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, such as a scene that seems to depict 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 this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the evil Count Dracula, brought to life by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. This character suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Tale of Love and Loss

The story is this: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the earth in anguish for hundreds of years since he became undead, a consequence for his faithless sorrow over the death of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has looked tirelessly for some woman who would be the reincarnation of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman turns out to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the modest betrothed of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to discuss his real estate holdings and the small picture of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Handling and Lighthearted Touch

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of global roaming wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he is not above providing humorous scenes in the style of Mel Brooks – such as the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, along with absurd moments that occur when Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and in disc format starting the twenty-second of December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.