Luc Besson’s Dracula (2025) Review

Luc Besson’s Dracula (2025) Review

Dracula is the fresh take on gothic horror classic adapted for the screen and directed by the legendary Luc Besson (The Fifth Element), from the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker. In the wake of a devastating loss, a 15th-century prince renounces God and is cursed to eternal life as Dracula. Now, the untold love story of the infamous vampire unfolds as he journeys across centuries, defying fate, and mortality, in search of his lost love.

Starring Caleb Landry Jones (Get Out) as the titular count, alongside Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) and Zoë Bleu (Gonzo Girl) with Matilda De Angelis; Ewens Abid; David Shields and Guillaume de Tonquédec. Original music composed by Danny Elfman (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice).

Do we really need another take on Bram Stoker’s infamous story, so soon after director Robert Egger’s 2024 Nosferatu effectively told the same tale, albeit more stylishly and ominously in tone, and a version that is so close in parts to Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA that you wonder why Besson did not just admit that he had remade it. That Besson’s follows in the wake of Guillermo del Toro’s lavish and epic FRANKENSTEIN further hampers this film’s impact, which exceeds this on every level. And whilst Besson’s DRACULA is also a visual banquet, it pales in comparison to both films and consequently its impact is muted.

Caleb Landry Jones embellishes the opportunity to play an iconic character, and Christoph Waltz effortlessly commands the screen each time he is in front of the camera. It is a Luc Besson film in name but never ‘feels’ like a Luc Besson film. It is uneven in tone, and the midsection muddled. Amendments to the source material – such as transferring the action to Paris instead of England and replacing Dracula’s sumptuous vampiric brides with stone gargoyles – make the film feel messy, the additions jar, rather than seamlessly fit in.

Besson’s film also bites a whole chunk out of the excellent 2006 film PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER and lumps it cackhandedly into DRACULA’s midsection and his film never fully recovers from such a misstep. Overall Besson’s DRACULA is occasionally cheesy, sometimes camp, but aside from its stylish visuals and a committed lead performance, it is hard to overlook the fact that even with the amendments and inclusions you have seen it before and seen it done better.

Blu-ray Extras:
Director Interview – 26mins
Becoming Dracula – 1min30
Directing Dracula – 2mins
Music of Dracula – 1min30

Dracula is available on Digital HD 1 December and DVD & Blu-ray 22 December. Distributed by Signature Entertainment

TRAILER

Dracula is on digital platforms from 1 December and on DVD and Blu-ray from 22 December. It screens in Australian cinemas from 5 February 2026