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

Maybe there is no great enthusiasm for a new version of Dracula from Luc Besson, the filmmaker known for glossiness and bloat. Still, one must admit: his richly designed love story with vampires has ambition and panache – and with its B-movie charm, I might just favor compared with Eggers’s dignified recent take of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that looks like it presents a territorial boundary between France and Romania.

Christoph Waltz as a Humorously Exhausted Clergyman Hunting Vampires

Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened vampire-hunting priest – I can’t believe he hasn’t played this character previously – who finds himself in Paris in 1889 to mark the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. So does the evil Count Dracula, played by the expert in grotesque roles Caleb Landry Jones speaking in a twisted regional dialect reminiscent of Carell’s Gru character of the Despicable Me series. This is a part that he too was born to take on.

The Plot: A Saga of Heartbreak

Here’s the premise: the count has been restlessly roaming the globe in sorrow for hundreds of years after his transformation into a vampire, a penalty for his irreligious grief over the death of his spouse Elisabeta (an inaugural screen appearance for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). The count has been searching, searching, searching for a lady who might be the rebirth of his deceased partner. Unfortunately, the chosen woman proves to be Mina (also Bleu, of course), the reserved future wife of Dracula’s feeble property handler, Jonathan Harker (played by Ewens Abid), who just traveled to the count’s castle to review his land assets and whose miniature portrait of the lovely Mina drew the vampire’s attention.

The Filmmaker’s Approach and Humorous Style

Besson organizes Dracula’s middle-section history of international journeys wearing flamboyant outfits with a sure hand, and he is not above providing funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – such as Dracula’s ongoing failed efforts to commit suicide after Elisabeta’s death, as well as absurd moments that result after Dracula sprays himself with a specific fragrance in historic Florence, which causes him to be unavoidably attractive to females. Absurd yet engaging.

Dracula can be streamed online from 1 December and on DVD and Blu-ray from December 22nd. It plays in Australian cinemas beginning on the fifth of February, 2026.