Dracula Movie Critique – Luc Besson’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Outlandish but Entertaining

Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for glossiness and bloat. And yet, it has to be said: his lavishly upholstered love story with vampires has ambition and panache – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor compared with Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on such a part earlier – who ends up in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the evil Count Dracula, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone similar to the voice of Gru by Steve Carell of the Despicable Me series. This character suits him perfectly.

The Story: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the earth in sorrow over four centuries after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment for his faithless sorrow following the loss of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has sought relentlessly for some woman who might be the return of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to review his real estate holdings and the small picture of the lovely Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he doesn’t shy away from providing humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – for example the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to end his own life following Elisabeta’s passing, along with farcical scenes that result after Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him irresistible to women. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is on digital platforms starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.