Dracula Movie Critique – Luc Besson’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Ridiculous but Watchable

It’s possible audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. However, one must admit: his richly designed love story with vampires has ambition and panache – 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. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that looks like it presents a land border between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz embodies a witty yet careworn vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who arrives in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Likewise present is the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of Steve Carell’s Gru of the Despicable Me series. This character he seemed destined to play.

The Plot: A Saga of Heartbreak

Here’s the premise: Dracula has wandered endlessly the globe in anguish for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence due to his blasphemous mourning after the passing of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has sought relentlessly for a lady who might be the return of his deceased partner. By cruel fate, the fortunate female proves to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his real estate holdings and the small picture of the winsome Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Direction and Comic Flair

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels sporting extravagant attire skillfully, and he is not above providing humorous scenes reminiscent of Mel Brooks – such as the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself post-Elisabeta’s demise, as well as absurd moments that occur when Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, that renders him irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is available digitally beginning on the first of December and on DVD and Blu-ray from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.