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

It’s possible audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for glossiness and bloat. Still, one must admit: his opulently crafted love story with vampires boasts bold vision and flair – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer to it to the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that seems to depict a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz portrays a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – 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. So does the malevolent vampire count, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. This is a part suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: Dracula has wandered endlessly the globe in sorrow for hundreds of years since he became undead, a consequence for his irreligious grief over the death of his beloved Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). the vampire has been searching, searching, searching for a lady who might be the return of his lost love. By cruel fate, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his land assets and the tiny painting of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Lighthearted Touch

Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of global roaming in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he is not above offering funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – like the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself following Elisabeta’s passing, along with absurd moments that occur when Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, that renders him compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and in disc format from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.