Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Passionate Revamp of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Outlandish but Engaging

It’s possible interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for stylish excess. Still, it’s worth noting: his richly designed vampire romance displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that appears to show a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Clever but Weary Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who ends up in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the evil Count Dracula, played by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect reminiscent of Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. This character suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing

The plot unfolds as follows: the count has wandered endlessly the earth in sorrow for 400 years following his rise as one of the undead, a punishment for his irreligious grief following the loss of his beloved Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has been searching, searching, searching for some woman who could be the return of his departed beloved. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the modest betrothed of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to review his property portfolio and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he willingly includes offering funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – such as the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, along with comical sequences that result after Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent in historic Florence, that renders him unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is available digitally beginning on the first of December and in disc format starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.