Dracula Review – Besson’s Romantic Reimagining of the Classic Horror Story is Ridiculous but Watchable

Perhaps interest is limited for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. Still, it has to be said: his opulently crafted romantic vampire tale has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that appears to show a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this role before – who ends up in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to Carell’s Gru character from the Despicable Me comedies. This character he seemed destined to play.

The Plot: A Saga of Heartbreak

Here’s the premise: Dracula has traveled ceaselessly the globe in anguish over four centuries after his transformation into a vampire, a penalty due to his blasphemous mourning over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). Dracula has sought relentlessly for a female who might be the return of his deceased partner. By cruel fate, the lucky lady is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to review his property portfolio and the small picture of the lovely Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Handling and Comic Flair

Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he is not above providing humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself post-Elisabeta’s demise, in addition to comical sequences that result after Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be compelling to the opposite sex. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula can be streamed online beginning on the first of December and in disc format from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.