Dracula Review – Besson’s Love-Struck Revamp of the Gothic Classic is Outlandish but Entertaining

Maybe audiences aren’t clamoring for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for polished extravagance. However, it has to be said: his richly designed vampire romance displays creativity and style – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, it could be preferable over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, like a particular moment that looks like it presents a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered man of the church pursuing the undead – it feels natural for him to tackle such a part earlier – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The same goes for the sinister Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.

The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has been restlessly roaming the earth in anguish for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a penalty due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his spouse Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has looked tirelessly for a female who would be the rebirth of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to discuss his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Comic Flair

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he willingly includes offering humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to farcical scenes that result after Dracula applies to himself with a specific fragrance in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and in disc format from 22 December. It plays in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.