Dracula Movie Critique – Luc Besson’s Passionate Revamp of the Classic Horror Story is Ridiculous but Entertaining

Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for polished extravagance. Still, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted vampire romance boasts bold vision and flair – and with its B-movie charm, 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 territorial boundary between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Clever but Weary Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz plays a witty yet careworn man of the church pursuing the undead – it’s surprising he never took on this role before – who ends up in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The same goes for the evil Count Dracula, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to Carell’s Gru character from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.

The Story: A Tale of Love and Loss

The story is this: the vampire lord has wandered endlessly the world in anguish for 400 years since he became undead, a punishment for his irreligious grief following the loss of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). the vampire has sought relentlessly for a lady who would be the rebirth of his departed beloved. Unfortunately, the chosen woman turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to Dracula’s fortress to negotiate his real estate holdings and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Direction and Lighthearted Touch

Besson structures Dracula’s second-act backstory of global roaming in various outrageous costumes confidently, and he doesn’t shy away from offering some comedy moments in the style of Mel Brooks – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide post-Elisabeta’s demise, along with comical sequences that follow Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, which causes him to be irresistible to women. Outlandish but entertaining.

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