Customer Reviews

Dracula: Dead and Loving It

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Let me say at the start that it's the perfect (and required) companion-piece to Mel's own classic, "Young Frankenstein."

That said, I have to admit - this movie grew on me.

When it first came out in 1995 I was still in the military and, though a great fan of Mel's films, I didn't have time to go see it. Given it's evident lack of theatrical success, it was available on VHS shortly there after and I rented it from a local video store.

At first, it was amusing, but not much else.

However, my local renter gave me two weeks to review it and, as I watched with more attention to detail, I grew to appreciate it's comic genius.

Others have written that it's a salute to Universal's 1937 classic "Dracula." It's all of that, but much more. It mocks elements of Frank Langella's sexy 1979 "Dracula," but the most obvious parody is Francis Ford Coppola's much more pretentious "Bram Stoker's Dracula."

Much of the dialogue is lifted, verbatim, from Universal's "Dracula," but given a new twist. For example the theater scene where Leslie Nielsen, as Dracula, attempts to contact Dr. Seward (played by Harvey Korman) and, before entering their opera box, instructs the usherette (played by Leslie Sachs) to "remember nothing of what I have said" - she takes him at his word and throws open the curtains to only stare at Seward & company and wonder blankly why she's there!

Another bit of amusing trivia is the famous stake scene. Steven Weber, playing Jonathon Harker, drives a stake through Lucy Westenra's (portrayed by Lysette Anthony) heart. In the production, no one told Steven that gallons and gallons of fake blood would erupt - and it shows! You can actually see Steven struggle to remember his lines and go on with the show.

One other bit of trivia - if there any Cub Scout Leaders out there who've seen this movie, check me out on this. In the Ball Room scene where Mel Brooks (playing Dr. Van Helsing) is decked out in tuxedo, isn't the medal he's wearing on his lapel a "Tiger Cub Leader" scout medal?

See it - Buy it - Love it. It's very nearly the last of a genre of humor that can be enjoyed by every generation of your family. From the youngest to the oldest, all will find a reason to laugh.

I think just about every person I've every spoken to about Mel Brooks has told me the same think:"My favorite is "Blazing Saddles!" or "I love "Young Frankenstein!" But this is one you'll never hear anyone mention.(To some people that's a good thing!) I was surpised to see what other viewers thought of this movie. I assumed everyone HATED it! But this is the kind of film you'd expect from Mel Broks,the man who brought you "Spaceballs",or "High Anxiety". A silly crazy spoof! The only way the enjoy this movie is to sit back and relax! It's not a masterpiece! It's a light hearted comedy! Good for some laughs! The mirror scene at the end will induce the biggest laughs!

As with "Young Frankenstein" you sort of need to have seen the original Universal films (if not the Francis Ford Copolla version) to get all the jokes. This might be the favorite vampire movie for pre-teen kids. It sure is in my house. Leslie Nielsen has the Dracula role nailed in what is his best performance outside of the Police Squad movies (George Hamilton, eat your heart out). Mel Brooks is slightly over the top, but since when is that news? You have to go back to "Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein" to find something this funny involving vampires.

God help me, but I do love Mel Brooks' movies. I love the sight gags, the one-liners, the play-on-words, and the fun he pokes at "serious" movies. Watching a Mel Brooks film has pulled me out of countless bad days, and sent me to bed with a smile on my face. "Dracula - Dead and Loving It" did not fail in that regard:

Count Dracula - "Children of the night...what a mess they make."

Thomas Renfield - "My God, what ARE you doing to the furniture? I'll have you know that's my knee you're straddling! This is wrong, do you hear me, wrong!............. Wrong me! Wrong me! Wrong my brains out! Two voluptuous women...grinding, heaving! It's hard to describe it...have you ever been to Paris?"

Doctor Seward - "Give him an enema...it will give him a feeling of accomplishment."

Count Dracula - "They had it coming!"

Lucy Westenra - "Let me show you the deep, raw passion of unbridled sexual frenzy."
Jonathan Harker - "But Lucy...I'm British!"
Lucy Westenra - "So are these!"

Professor Van Helsing - "Hit her again, she's almost dead!"
Jonathan Harker - "She's dead enough! So much blood!"
Professor Van Helsing - "We should have put newspapers down. I have been to many, many stakings...you have to know where to stand! You know, everything in life is location, location, location."

Mina Seward - "No hickies!"

And I am still waiting for Mel to release History of the World Part 2, so I can see "Hitler on Ice" and "Jews in Space."

Good clean fun and good clean funny,Leslie Nielsen(Rest in Peace)was always my favorite,and Mel Brooks nails it with his Dracula,it is at times dry in Mel Brooks type of way but nonetheless worth watching for The ever funny Mr.Nielsen.

If you watch the original Dracula starring Bella Lugosi you can see Leslie Nielsen's facial expressions are identical. I don't see how he can keep that deadpan look as he says his lines.

The cast and script are excellent. If you like the Naked Gun series you will like this as well. It is classic Leslie Nielsen.

So says priggish, prudish Solicitor Renfield (Peter MacNichol . . . brilliant) to the two (very) female vampires who enter his bedroom in Dracula's (Leslie Nielsen; need I say more?) castle, when the ladies (?) proceed to rub various areas of their attractive (but fully clothed)anatomies against various items of said furnishings.

Before this, Renfield has encountered a Gypsy woman (Brooks' late wife, Ann Bancroft) who has warned him about vampires and given him a cross necklace to wear, all the while jiggling the skin under her chin to make her voice tremble eerily.

It only gets more ridiculous from there, folks, and you'll only laugh harder.

Spoofing is the sincerest form of film flattery, IMHO, and Brooks clearly loves and remembers the history of Dracula on film, from Lugosi to Langella to Oldman. Watch; you'll see a joke/tip-of-the-hat to each version, although the overall tone is closest to the Lugosi original.

Highly recommended for Brooks/spoof fans.

Enjoy.

"Dracula: Dead And Loving It" is another Mel Brooks masterpiece, among his best alongside "Robin Hood: Men In Tights." This is a fantastic and amusing movie with good jokes and lots of funny scenes. You will find yourself laughing your lungs out as you watch the movie

Mel Brooks took the horror story of Bram Stoker's Dracula and made it into a hilarious movie. Leslie Nielson played his role exceptionally well producing some unforgettable funny scenes. This is a well made movie with exceptional cinematography and great acting. I have watched the movie several times and can't stop laughing. The mirror scene to me was the height of the comedy.

Highly recommend to people with a sense of humour. Also recommended that you buy "Robin Hood Men in Tights", if you have not already done so.

This was another entertaining Mel Brooks farce, a la Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles. If you liked those, you'd like this.
Peter MacNichol almost steals the show in this film as "Renfield." He just drives me buggy. Leslie Nielsen, who revived his career later in life playing goofy roles, also is very good, this time as 'Dracula." Actually, I thought he was far better in here than in those other spoofs, such as the "Naked Gun" series. It may be his best comedic role.

The two women in here, Amy Yasback and Lysette Anthony, are beautiful, and well-endowed as Brooks - and a lot of us guys - likes 'em. They are in the film for their looks while the other two provide the laughs.

Story-wise, it's just a light-hearted look at the story of Dracula, told many times in the films, mostly in the serious vein (pun intended) except for "Love At First Bite" which was similar in laughs to this. After watching this film, I could never look at garlic or blood the same way!

When you need some good laughs and nothing else, this DVD fills the need for an hour-and-a-half.

I first saw a clip of this film on a movie chart show and I knew there and then that I had to have it. The directing is superb as is the script. This film is one of the best spoofs I have ever seen, in second would be airplane II the sequal. The acting in this is perfect and I would thouroughly recommend it to anyone. Well Done all envolved.