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

Maybe interest is limited for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for stylish excess. And yet, it’s worth noting: his lavishly upholstered romantic vampire tale boasts bold vision and flair – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable compared with Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that seems to depict a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz portrays a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on such a part earlier – who ends up in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. This is a part suits him perfectly.

The Narrative: A Tale of Love and Loss

The story is this: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the globe in anguish for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence for his faithless sorrow over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who could be the rebirth of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), 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 whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Handling and Lighthearted Touch

Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he is not above offering funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, in addition to absurd moments that result after Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance during the 1700s in Florence, that renders him irresistible to women. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and for physical purchase from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.