Dracula Review – The French Director’s Romantic Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Outlandish but Entertaining

Maybe interest is limited for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for polished extravagance. And yet, one must admit: his lavishly upholstered romantic vampire tale has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Clever but Weary 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 character previously – who ends up in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the malevolent vampire count, played by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of Carell’s Gru character in the Despicable Me films. This character he seemed destined to play.

The Story: A Chronicle of Longing

The story is this: the vampire lord has been restlessly roaming the world in sorrow for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence for his faithless sorrow following the loss of his wife, Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has looked tirelessly for a female who could be the reincarnation of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to Dracula’s fortress to discuss his land assets and the tiny painting of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair

Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming sporting extravagant attire confidently, and he is not above providing funny bits reminiscent of Mel Brooks – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with farcical scenes that follow Dracula douses himself using a particular scent in historic Florence, that renders him irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and in disc format from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.