Dracula Review – The French Director’s Romantic Reimagining of the Classic Horror Story is Absurd but Entertaining

It’s possible audiences aren’t clamoring for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. However, one must admit: his opulently crafted love story with vampires has ambition and panache – and amid its theatrical camp, it could be preferable compared with the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, such as a scene that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened man of the church pursuing the undead – it feels natural for him to tackle this character previously – who ends up in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. So does the evil Count Dracula, enacted by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect reminiscent of Carell’s Gru character in the Despicable Me films. This character he seemed destined to play.

The Story: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: Dracula has wandered endlessly the globe in torment over four centuries following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence for his faithless sorrow after the passing of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). the vampire has looked tirelessly for a lady who would be the return of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to Dracula’s fortress to discuss his real estate holdings and the tiny painting of the lovely Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Comic Flair

Besson arranges Dracula’s flashback sequence of international journeys in various outrageous costumes confidently, and he is not above giving us some comedy moments in the style of Mel Brooks – such as the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, in addition to absurd moments that follow Dracula applies to himself using a particular scent in historic Florence, that renders him compelling to the opposite sex. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is available digitally beginning on the first of December and in disc format starting the twenty-second of December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.