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

Perhaps there is no great enthusiasm for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the celebrated French director for stylish excess. However, it’s worth noting: his opulently crafted vampire romance displays creativity and style – and amid its theatrical camp, I might just favor compared with Robert Eggers’s recent, solemnly classy version of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that looks like it presents a land border between France and Romania.

Waltz as a Clever but Weary Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz portrays a clever but beleaguered man of the church pursuing the undead – 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 evil Count Dracula, enacted by the seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect reminiscent of Steve Carell’s Gru from the Despicable Me comedies. This character he seemed destined to play.

The Story: A Saga of Heartbreak

The plot unfolds as follows: the vampire lord has traveled ceaselessly the globe in sorrow for 400 years following his rise as one of the undead, a penalty due to his blasphemous mourning after the passing of his spouse Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, Rosanna Arquette’s child). the vampire has sought relentlessly for a lady who might be the return of his departed beloved. By cruel fate, the lucky lady turns out to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who has recently been to Dracula’s fortress to discuss his land assets and the tiny painting of the winsome Mina attracted Dracula’s gaze.

Besson’s Direction and Comic Flair

Besson organizes Dracula’s flashback sequence of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits confidently, and he doesn’t shy away from providing funny bits with a distinctly Mel Brooks flavour – like the count’s repeated and futile attempts to kill himself after Elisabeta’s death, as well as comical sequences that follow Dracula applies to himself in a certain perfume in 18th-century Florence, which causes him to be irresistible to women. Ridiculous and watchable.

Dracula is available digitally from 1 December and for physical purchase from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.