Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Engaging

Maybe audiences aren’t clamoring for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. Still, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted vampire romance boasts bold vision and flair – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that appears to show a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz embodies a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the malevolent vampire count, brought to life by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone reminiscent of Carell’s Gru character from the Despicable Me comedies. This character suits him perfectly.

The Plot: A Saga of Heartbreak

The story is this: Dracula has been restlessly roaming the globe in anguish over four centuries after his transformation into a vampire, a consequence for his irreligious grief following the loss of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has been searching, searching, searching for a female who might be the return of his lost love. By cruel fate, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (also Bleu, of course), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the count’s castle to negotiate his land assets and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson structures Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he willingly includes giving us some comedy moments with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to end his own life after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to farcical scenes that result after Dracula applies to himself with a specific fragrance during the 1700s in Florence, that renders him compelling to the opposite sex. Absurd yet engaging.

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