Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Mel Brooks

Writers (WGA):

Mel Brooks (screenplay) &
Rudy De Luca (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 December 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Plot:

Another spoof from the mind of Mel Brooks. This time he's out to poke fun at the Dracula myth. Basically...

Plot Keywords:

Spoof | Cleavage | Sanitarium | Hypnotism | Seductive Dance

Cast

Leslie Nielsen	...	Count Dracula
Peter MacNicol	...	R.M. Renfield
Steven Weber	...	Jonathan Harker
Amy Yasbeck	...	Mina Murray
Lysette Anthony	...	Lucy Westenra
Mel Brooks	...	Dr. Abraham Van Helsing
Harvey Korman	...	Dr. Jack Seward
Mark Blankfield	...	Martin
Megan Cavanagh	...	Essie
Clive Revill	...	Sykes
Chuck McCann	...	Innkeeper
Avery Schreiber	...	Peasant on Coach
Cherie Franklin	...	Peasant on Coach
Ezio Greggio	...	Coach Driver
Leslie S. Sachs	...	Usherette (as Leslie Sachs)

Also Known As:

Dracula mort et heureux de l'être (France)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for comedic sensuality and gore.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA | France

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #33994) | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-3 (video rating) (1996) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Chile:14 | Germany:12 | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

Much of the dialogue from the original Dracula (1931) is repeated here and spoofed, as well as Nielsen doing a spoof-impersonation of the famed Bela Lugosi.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Dracula flies down from Renfield's cell window, the black cable on the stuntman's back is visible.

Quotes:

Dr. Steward: [to Martin, about Renfield] Put him in a straitjacket and give him an enema! Wait, give him an enema FIRST, then put him in a straitjacket!

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Suspicion (1941)

Soundtrack:

Hungarian Dance No. 5

The most underrated comedy in my DVD arsenal

"Dracula: Dead and Loving It" is a movie that seems to define what someone either really likes or dislikes about a comedy, and more specifically a parody: gags. For me, the gags herein worked, there were reasons for their having been used and therefore makes it funny to me. The storyline didn't stall, the gags weren't desperate for laughs, and the acting was exactly what was needed: the comedic touch.

The casting choice to have Steven Weber and Amy Yasbeck, both veterans of the TV series "Wings", was brilliant because the chemistry between their personalities was proven and honed before the movie. The choice of Leslie Nielsen for the titular role was dead-on. Someone that has the wisdom of centuries (decades, whatever), is cunning (a la the Naked Gun series), and above all, never gives up (until turned to dust). Mel Brooks, having proved his comedic prowess with films like "Young Frankenstein", comes through in the role of Van Helsing. Even the incidental characters seem to have a reason to belong and flow in the movie, like Essie, the guardian of Mina, or Martin, Dr. Seward's right-hand man of the sanitarium...

Martin: "...the patient in the west wing? He's havin' a conniption fit."

Dr. Seward: "Oh. Give him an enima."

As stated, the movie will most likely be quite funny or very dull, depending on what the viewer expects from it beforehand. Being that I like a good slapstick comedy (and I do), the performances above all are what were able to pull me in.

FOOSH-TAA!

"Dracula: Dead and Loving It" gets 9 of 10 stars