Dracula Review – Besson’s Romantic Reinterpretation of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Entertaining

Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. However, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale has ambition and panache – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor compared with Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, like a particular moment that seems to depict a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead

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 arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the sinister Dracula, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role suits him perfectly.

The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss

Here’s the premise: the count has traveled ceaselessly the earth in torment for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a penalty due to his blasphemous mourning over the death of his beloved Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has looked tirelessly for a lady who might be the reincarnation of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to review his real estate holdings and the small picture of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels in various outrageous costumes with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from giving us funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – like Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to farcical scenes that follow Dracula douses himself with a specific fragrance in historic Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula can be streamed online from 1 December and on DVD and Blu-ray from December 22nd. It will be shown in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.