Dracula Movie Critique – Luc Besson’s Passionate Reimagining of the Classic Horror Story is Absurd but Engaging

It’s possible there is no great enthusiasm for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. Still, it’s worth noting: his richly designed love story with vampires displays creativity and style – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor to it to Eggers’s dignified recent take 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 Witty Yet Careworn Clergyman Hunting Vampires

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 finds himself in Paris in 1889 for the French Revolution centenary celebrations. Likewise present is the evil Count Dracula, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent similar to Steve Carell’s Gru of the Despicable Me series. It’s a role that he too was born to take on.

The Plot: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: Dracula has wandered endlessly the earth in sorrow for 400 years after his transformation into a vampire, a punishment due to his blasphemous mourning over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, the offspring of Rosanna Arquette). The count has looked tirelessly for a lady who might be the reincarnation of his deceased partner. By cruel fate, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (again played by Bleu), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the vampire’s estate to negotiate his property portfolio and whose miniature portrait of the charming Mina caught the count’s hooded eye.

Besson’s Handling and Humorous Style

Besson arranges Dracula’s middle-section history of worldwide travels wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he is not above giving us humorous scenes in the style of Mel Brooks – such as the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as absurd moments that result after Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance in 18th-century Florence, which makes him irresistible to women. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and in disc format from December 22nd. It screens in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.