Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Classic Horror Story is Ridiculous but Engaging

Maybe interest is limited for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for polished extravagance. Still, one must admit: his lavishly upholstered romantic vampire tale boasts bold vision and flair – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable to it to Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, such as a scene that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Clever but Weary Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who ends up in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the malevolent vampire count, brought to life by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. This is a part he seemed destined to play.

The Plot: A Saga of Heartbreak

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the earth in sorrow over four centuries since he became undead, a penalty for his faithless sorrow over the death of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who would be the return of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Lighthearted Touch

Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming sporting extravagant attire confidently, and he is not above offering funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself post-Elisabeta’s demise, as well as farcical scenes that follow Dracula applies to himself in a certain perfume in historic Florence, which causes him to be irresistible to women. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula can be streamed online beginning on the first of December and for physical purchase from December 22nd. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.