Maybe interest is limited for a fresh take of Dracula from Luc Besson, the French maestro for polished extravagance. Still, it has to be said: his lavishly upholstered love story with vampires has ambition and panache – and amid its theatrical camp, I’m not sure I wouldn’t prefer over the recent, stately interpretation by Robert Eggers of Nosferatu. A few strange elements appear, including one shot that appears to show a land border between France and Romania.
Christoph Waltz plays a humorous yet burdened man of the church pursuing the undead – it feels natural for him to tackle this character previously – 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 seasoned horror actor Caleb Landry Jones with a mangled central European accent reminiscent of the voice of Gru by Steve Carell from the Despicable Me comedies. This character that he too was born to take on.
Here’s the premise: Dracula has wandered endlessly the globe in torment for hundreds of years following his rise as one of the undead, a consequence for his irreligious grief after the passing of his beloved Elisabeta (a first film part for Zoë Bleu, daughter of Rosanna Arquette). the vampire has sought relentlessly for a lady who might be the rebirth of his lost love. As ill fortune would have it, the lucky lady proves to be Mina (portrayed once more by Bleu), the modest betrothed of Dracula’s wimpish land agent, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), who lately visited to Dracula’s fortress to review his real estate holdings and the tiny painting of the charming Mina drew the vampire’s attention.
Besson structures Dracula’s flashback sequence of international journeys sporting extravagant attire with a sure hand, and he is not above offering funny bits in the style of Mel Brooks – for example the vampire’s constant unsuccessful tries to kill himself following Elisabeta’s passing, along with farcical scenes that result after Dracula sprays himself using a particular scent during the 1700s in Florence, which makes him unavoidably attractive to females. Outlandish but entertaining.
Dracula is available digitally starting December 1st and in disc format from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026.
