Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

Strong and Moving!

Great Film overall

The first must-see film of the year.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) * 1/2 (out of 4)Van Helsing (Mel Brooks) must go up against Count Dracula (Leslie Nielsen) in this spoof of every Dracula film ever made.Mel Brooks had hit a grand slam years earlier with YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, which was his and Gene Wilder's homage to the old Universal FRANKENSTEIN pictures. It seems like it would be a good idea to do the same thing to the DRACULA pictures but sadly the results are the worst of the filmmaker's career. DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT took a beating from critics and it crashed and burned at the box office and both of those things might be why Brooks walked away from making movies.It's really too bad that this film turned out so bad but there's just not much here. A lot of the dialogue is from the 1931 DRACULA with Bela Lugosi and when you think about it not much is done with it here. The dialogue is said in silly ways but did Brooks really think people would find that funny? The entire film is just a copy of other Dracula movies but we get one quick joke but that joke often fails. I've said this before but it's clear Brooks didn't adjust with the times because this type of comedy just wasn't acceptable anymore.The film got a pretty good cast for it with Nielsen making a good choice to play Dracula but the screenplay basically gives him nothing to do. He never gets to sink his teeth into the role or his own comic greatness. The film does have a couple decent laughs including the spider web sequence at the start as well as the stake through the heart scene where blood goes gushing.

"Dracula: Dead and Loving It" is another parody of Mel Brooks, this time based on the Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" and its characters. The spoof has funny moments, especially for Mel Brooks' fans. Leslie Nielsen is good as usual in this type of movie that he became the greatest name but Peter MacNicol steals the show in the role of Renfield. The sequences of Harker impaling a stake in Lucy following the instructions of Professor Van Helsing and the ball with Dracula fleeing and Reinfield trying to save his master are the best moments of this film. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Drácula - Morto Mas Feliz ("Dracula - Dead but Happy")

Another dodgy film title and arguably Mel Brooks last decent spoof after a long career in film led to a brief spell in the theatre as things started to wind down. In fact this was Brooks last major film in which he starred and directed.Now I must admit that when I first saw the film I didn't really like it much, the whole thing looked cheap, tacky and wasn't overly funny. But the strangest thing, like with other Brooks films, I have found myself appreciating it a lot more over the years.Like his other spoofs this has pot shots at various classic vampire films over the years but the main target is of course the Lugosi gem. Its a real blend of styles which kinda works and kinda doesn't. Naturally the film is created with an old time appearance reminiscent of the 1931 film, but at the same time it has those great cheesy cardboard cutout visuals of Hammer horrors. I personally think the film has a lot in common with 'Spaceballs' in the fact that it looks hammy but at the same time it also has some neat effects. The main negative aspect of the film in my opinion was most of the sets are obviously sets which is a bit off putting I can't deny and there is a distinct lack of scenic spooky landscapes or creepy castles which is a real shame. I realise the film is suppose to be low rent as it were but all Dracula flicks need some nice eerie real locations and spooky castles. Despite that there are some nice touches here and there, the low budget bat transformations of Dracula are kinda cute, lots of little homages and visual gags, everything has been over done, forced and blown out of proportions on purpose which is amusing, costumes are suitably stuffy and set the mood well, plus the casting is actually quite good.Now I know you can't expect top rate acting in a Brooks spoof but there are still some nice little performances here. The best for me being MacNicol as the whimpering stir crazy Renfield. The character does get a bit too loony tunes as the film progresses but initially I really like his stiff upper lipped Englishman when he first travels to see Dracula. The best scene must be when Renfield sits down with Dr Seward for tea and ends up eating bugs. Not only that but the pronunciation of raspberries by Harvey korman in this sequence is hilarious.Even though he has top billing the late great Nielsen wasn't the best thing here (the combination of him and Brooks together in films came too late in the day unfortunately). Bottom line Nielsen is miscast as Dracula, he doesn't look the part and he doesn't sound the part, but that's why he is perfect in the role. The fact he's completely wrong for the role makes it work, its just funny that he doesn't come across as a Dracula kind of guy and I think Nielsen knows that and uses it. Whilst watching I can't help but think Leslie is actually trying in certain scenes bless him, he does appear to actually go for it and really put on his best Lugosi/Dracula performance just for the hell of it, he's enjoying his chance in the role. End of the day only Nielsen could get away with this kind of deliberate miscasting, he was (and still is) such a popular lovable guy.Brooks himself enters the fray as Van Helsing and fits the role pretty well with his mock German, Jewish accent. In a sense he's playing the same characters as President Skroob and Frederick Bronski with similar facial hair but not as dumb. Yeah sure we've seen it all before with Brooks but if you're a fan then you won't complain. His best scene must be the stake through the heart sequence, simple but effective.I do get the impression that Brooks is merely working his way through every genre he can and this film simply ticks a box on the list...pretty much like 'Men in Tights'. I also get the feeling he is trying to recapture the same level of success he achieved with 'Young Frankenstein' and the Gothic horror genre. To be brutally honest most of the jokes have been used before in previous works but at least its not as childish as 'Men in Tights' and does offer some adult content. I won't say this parody is a great film, it doesn't really come close to previous Brooks films but its still mildly amusing and a must for fanboys.6/10

Dracula: Dead and Loving It is one of the best movies Mel Brooks made. To fully appreciate it you should see the original Dracula from 1931, this is probably the reason most people don't like it, because they don't get the connection. Through whole movie I was laughing, never stops to make me laugh, even after 5 times of watching it, still feels fresh.Rivarly between Dracula and Van Helsing is one of the best things in this movie, their egos are so similar and they don't like each other.Leslie Nielsen plays his roll perfectly. Peter MacNicol deserved Oscar for his roll, he was top notch, for me even better performance than Leslie Nielsen.