Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Romantic Reimagining of the Timeless Gothic Tale is Outlandish but Entertaining

Perhaps audiences aren’t clamoring for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for stylish excess. However, it’s worth noting: his richly designed vampire romance has ambition and panache – and in all its Hammer-y cheesiness, I might just favor over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. There are some very bizarre touches, including one shot that seems to depict a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Humorously Exhausted Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz embodies a humorous yet burdened man of the church pursuing the undead – I can’t believe he hasn’t played such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. The same goes for the malevolent vampire count, played by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to Carell’s Gru character in the Despicable Me films. This character he seemed destined to play.

The Plot: A Saga of Heartbreak

Here’s the premise: the count has traveled ceaselessly the globe in anguish over four centuries following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence for his faithless sorrow over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has sought relentlessly for a female who might be the rebirth of his deceased partner. Unfortunately, the lucky lady turns out to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the modest betrothed of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (enacted by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the vampire’s estate to review his real estate holdings and the small picture of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Direction and Lighthearted Touch

Besson structures Dracula’s second-act backstory of international journeys sporting extravagant attire confidently, and he is not above giving us humorous scenes in the style of Mel Brooks – such as the count’s repeated and futile attempts to end his own life following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as absurd moments that occur when Dracula douses himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and in disc format from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.