Dracula Movie Critique – Luc Besson’s Romantic Revamp of the Classic Horror Story is Absurd but Watchable

Perhaps interest is limited for an updated adaptation of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. And yet, one must admit: his opulently crafted 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, such as a scene that seems to depict a geographic divide between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Clever but Weary Priest Tracking the Undead

Christoph Waltz embodies a clever but beleaguered vampire-hunting priest – it’s surprising he never took on this role before – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the malevolent vampire count, brought to life by the body-horror veteran Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect reminiscent of Steve Carell’s Gru of the Despicable Me series. This character that he too was born to take on.

The Story: A Saga of Heartbreak

The plot unfolds as follows: Dracula has wandered endlessly the earth in anguish for 400 years since he became undead, a penalty for his faithless sorrow over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (a movie debut role for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). the vampire has sought relentlessly for some woman who might be the reincarnation of his departed beloved. Unfortunately, the lucky lady turns out to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the demure fiancee of the count’s timid estate manager, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to the vampire’s estate to review his property portfolio and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

Besson’s Direction and Humorous Style

Besson structures Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he is not above offering funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – for example the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, as well as farcical scenes that occur when Dracula sprays himself in a certain perfume during the 1700s in Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula can be streamed online starting December 1st and in disc format starting the twenty-second of December. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.