Dracula Review – Besson’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Gothic Classic is Outlandish but Watchable

It’s possible interest is limited for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. However, it’s worth noting: his lavishly upholstered love story with vampires has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, it could be preferable over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, like a particular moment that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Clever but Weary Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – it’s surprising he never took on such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. So does the malevolent vampire count, played by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking Carell’s Gru character 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 globe in sorrow for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment for his irreligious grief after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). the vampire has been searching, searching, searching for a female who would be the reincarnation of his lost love. Unfortunately, the fortunate female proves to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to review his land assets and the tiny painting of the charming Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Humorous Style

Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming sporting extravagant attire confidently, and he is not above offering funny bits reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, in addition to comical sequences that result after Dracula douses himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and on DVD and Blu-ray from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.