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

It’s possible interest is limited for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. Still, it has to be said: his opulently crafted love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and with its B-movie charm, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, such as a scene that seems to depict a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened man of the church pursuing the undead – it feels natural for him to tackle this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. The same goes for the sinister Dracula, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone similar to Steve Carell’s Gru of the Despicable Me series. This character suits him perfectly.

The Story: A Saga of Heartbreak

The plot unfolds as follows: the count has traveled ceaselessly the earth in anguish over four centuries since he became undead, a punishment for his irreligious grief after the passing of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has looked tirelessly for a lady who would be the return of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the chosen woman is revealed as Mina (again played by Bleu), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his land assets and the small picture of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Lighthearted Touch

Besson structures Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he doesn’t shy away from providing funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – like the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, along with absurd moments 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 can be streamed online starting December 1st and for physical purchase starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.