Dracula Review – Besson’s Romantic Revamp of the Classic Horror Story is Absurd but Entertaining

Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. However, it has to be said: his richly designed love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, it could be preferable to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, including one shot that seems to depict a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the sinister Dracula, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. This character suits him perfectly.

The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss

The story is this: the count has wandered endlessly the globe in sorrow over four centuries following his rise as one of the undead, a punishment for his faithless sorrow following the loss of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has been searching, searching, searching for a female who would be the reincarnation of his deceased partner. Unfortunately, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to review his real estate holdings and the small picture of the winsome Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Comic Flair

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels sporting extravagant attire skillfully, and he willingly includes providing some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life following Elisabeta’s passing, along with absurd moments that result after Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, which causes him to be irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and in disc format from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.