Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Passionate Revamp of the Classic Horror Story is Absurd but Engaging

It’s possible there is no great enthusiasm for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. And yet, one must admit: his lavishly upholstered vampire romance has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.

The Veteran Actor as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – 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. Likewise present is the sinister Dracula, played by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent evoking Carell’s Gru character in the Despicable Me films. This is a part he seemed destined to play.

The Story: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the world in anguish for 400 years since he became undead, a penalty for his irreligious grief following the loss of his wife, Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). Dracula has looked tirelessly for some woman who might be the return of his lost love. Unfortunately, the fortunate female is revealed as Mina (again played by Bleu), the demure fiancee of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the count’s castle to negotiate his land assets and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style

Besson arranges Dracula’s flashback sequence of worldwide travels in various outrageous costumes skillfully, and he is not above offering some comedy moments reminiscent of Mel Brooks – for example Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, as well as comical sequences that follow Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.

Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and in disc format starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.