Dracula: Dead and Loving It

Dracula: Dead and Loving It

In 1995, it was promising to hear that Mel Brooks was creating "the companion piece to Young Frankenstein." He had also brought in the heavyweight of deadpan--Leslie Nielsen. As Lt. Frank Drebin in the Police Squad movies, Nielsen has no peer for silly stuff--just the player Brooks would seem to need for a strong movie, as any fan of Brooks perpetually hopes a new film may rekindle his madcap magic. Alas, the end results in Dracula: Dead and Loving It include a sprinkling of amusements and one big belly laugh. Brooks and his writers use a very tight adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, but the spoofs can be spelled out as we go, as if they are paint-by-number. Some are jabs at Coppola's version of Dracula, but most are attached to classic Dracula films. If any real pleasure comes from the movie it's thanks to the efforts of the cast. Peter MacNicol plays the crazed Renfield to the letter, Steven Weber has a good time as the tight British Harkin, and Lysette Anthony charms as the doomed Lucy. Brooks and Nielsen ham it up just fine. There's even a surprisingly controlled performance by Harvey Korman (a character spoofing Anthony Hopkins's role in the misfire The Road to Wellville). As with Brooks's period comedies, the film looks better than it needs to and includes a few tricky special effects for good measure. This has nothing to do with the audience laughing--we need bigger jokes. And when you double over laughing in one scene--involving a stake through the heart and a bucket of blood--you want the movie to achieve Brooks's days of glory, when hearty laughter was the norm, not an isolated moment. --Doug Thomas

Production: WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES
 
IMDB:
5.8
Rotten Tomatoes:
11%
PG-13
Year:
1995
88
2,879 Views

[Renfield is having breakfast with Dr. Seward. He sees a bug on the table and eats it]

Dr. Seward:
I was just telling Ma—what was that?

Renfield:
Huh?

Dr. Seward:
You just grabbed something from the table.

Renfield:
I did not.

Dr. Seward:
Yes you did, I saw you, you put it in your mouth. I think it was an insect.

Renfield:
[thinks of an alibi] Oh, that was a raspberry.

Dr. Seward:
Raspberry? We're not serving raspberries.

Renfield:
Then it must have been a raisin. I guess it fell off the muffin. See? There's one missing.

[The two men laugh. Renfield sees a spider coming towards him, and he quickly eats it up]

Dr. Seward:
How silly of me! It must have been my imagin—there, you did it again!

Renfield:
Huh?

Dr. Seward:
You just put a bug in your mouth. I think it was a spider!

Renfield:
I did not.

Dr. Seward:
Yes, you did.

Renfield:
I did not.

Dr. Seward:
Yes, you did.

Renfield:
I did not.

Dr. Seward:
[shouts] I tell you I saw you snatch a spider right out of the air and eat it!

Renfield:
A spider?

[Swallows the spider in his mouth]

Renfield:
How absurd!

[A grasshopper jumps onto the patio. He intentionally throws his fork]

Renfield:
Oh! Dropped my fork! [gets on all fours and scrambles under the table for the insect]

Dr. Seward:
Mr. Renfield, what are you doing down there? This is most unseemly!

Renfield:
Fork found! [Comes back up] Sorry for the delay.

[The grasshopper's leg is sticking out of Renfield's mouth, and wriggling about]

Dr. Seward:
My God, man! You're eating insects right from the ground!

Renfield:
...What makes you say that?

Dr. Seward:
I can see one trying to get out of your mouth!

Renfield:
Out of my mouth?

Dr. Seward:
Yes, out of your mouth! Your very own mouth and it's wriggling about!

Renfield:
Don't be ridiculous! Wriggling!

Dr. Seward:
I'm not ridiculous at all! It's wriggling all over the place! The poor thing, it's fighting for its life!

[Renfield eyes the grasshopper's leg, which has fallen from his mouth and quickly scoops it up]

Renfield:
I don't know what you're talking about. If you insist on ranting like this, I'm going to leave!

Dr. Seward:
Me, ranting? You're the ranter!

[Renfield spots a fly]

Renfield:
[to the fly] Hello, little darling!

[Grabs the air in attempt to catch the fly]

Renfield:
Don't be afraid!

[Laughs in a strange tone]

Renfield:
I won't hurt you! All I want is your life!

[Renfield does a body slam across Dr. Seward's lap, and knocks everything off the table. Renfield is soon grabbed by two asylum attendants.]

Dr. Seward:
That's it! Put him in a straight jacket and give him an enema! Wait! Wait, wait... Give him the enema FIRST. THEN put him in a straitjacket.


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