Dracula Movie Critique – The French Director’s Passionate Reinterpretation of the Gothic Classic is Ridiculous but Engaging

Maybe interest is limited for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for glossiness and bloat. Still, it has to be said: his lavishly upholstered love story with vampires boasts bold vision and flair – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor over Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. Odd details emerge, such as a scene that seems to depict a land border between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Vampire-Hunting Priest

Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened cleric fighting vampires – it’s surprising he never took on such a part earlier – who arrives in Paris in 1889 during the centennial of the French Revolution. The same goes for the malevolent vampire count, brought to life by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones using a distorted Eastern European tone evoking Carell’s Gru character of the Despicable Me series. It’s a role suits him perfectly.

The Story: A Chronicle of Longing

Here’s the premise: Dracula has been restlessly roaming the globe in torment over four centuries since he became undead, a punishment for his irreligious grief following the loss of his beloved Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). The count has sought relentlessly for some woman who might be the rebirth of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the fortunate female turns out to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who lately visited to the count’s castle to negotiate his land assets and the small picture of the charming Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Comic Flair

Besson arranges Dracula’s flashback sequence of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he doesn’t shy away from giving us funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – like Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to end his own life following Elisabeta’s passing, as well as comical sequences that occur when Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him compelling to the opposite sex. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula is on digital platforms beginning on the first of December and for physical purchase from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas starting February 5, 2026.