Dracula Movie Critique – Besson’s Romantic Revamp of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Absurd but Entertaining

Maybe interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. And yet, it has to be said: his richly designed love story with vampires boasts bold vision and flair – and amid its theatrical camp, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, including one shot that seems to depict a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz plays a witty yet careworn vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who ends up in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. So does the malevolent vampire count, enacted by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. It’s a role he seemed destined to play.

The Narrative: A Tale of Love and Loss

The story is this: the count has wandered endlessly the earth in sorrow over four centuries since he became undead, a consequence due to his blasphemous mourning following the loss of his beloved Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has sought relentlessly for a female who would be the return of his lost love. Unfortunately, the chosen woman turns out to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to discuss his land assets and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style

Besson organizes Dracula’s second-act backstory of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he is not above offering funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, as well as comical sequences that follow Dracula applies to himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, that renders him compelling to the opposite sex. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula can be streamed online beginning on the first of December and in disc format from 22 December. It will be shown in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.