Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Love-Struck Reimagining of the Gothic Classic is Outlandish but Engaging

Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. And yet, it has to be said: his lavishly upholstered romantic vampire tale boasts bold vision and flair – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I might just favor compared with Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, like a particular moment that appears to show a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz plays a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – it’s surprising he never took on such a part earlier – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. So does the malevolent vampire count, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect evoking Carell’s Gru character of the Despicable Me series. It’s a role that he too was born to take on.

The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has been restlessly roaming the globe in sorrow for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning after the passing of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for a lady who might be the reincarnation of his deceased partner. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady turns out to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the count’s castle to discuss his land assets and the tiny painting of the charming Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of global roaming wearing flamboyant outfits skillfully, and he doesn’t shy away from giving us some comedy moments with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life after Elisabeta’s death, as well as absurd moments that result after Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume in historic Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and on DVD and Blu-ray from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.