Dracula Review – Luc Besson’s Passionate Reimagining of the Gothic Classic is Absurd but Engaging

Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. And yet, one must admit: his opulently crafted 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. Odd details emerge, such as a scene that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz portrays a witty yet careworn cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on this role before – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the sinister Dracula, enacted by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of Steve Carell’s Gru in the Despicable Me films. This is a part he seemed destined to play.

The Story: A Saga of Heartbreak

Here’s the premise: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the globe in sorrow for 400 years since he became undead, a consequence due to his blasphemous mourning after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has looked tirelessly for a female who could be the return of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the modest betrothed of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his real estate holdings and whose miniature portrait of the winsome Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson arranges Dracula’s second-act backstory of international journeys sporting extravagant attire confidently, and he doesn’t shy away from providing humorous scenes with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with comical sequences that occur when Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, that renders him unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is available digitally starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray starting the twenty-second of December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.