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8/12/2015

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) - Brooks wrongly castigated last directorial effort



The classy-fun poster for Mel Brooks' Dracula: Dead and Loving It

QUICK REVIEW:

Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula (1897) and its adaptations into cinema are the basis of this spoof.

Dead and Loving It is a warm-hearted crazy-comedy from some of the old guys in the profession: Master co-writer-director/producer/star Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles (1974)) and Leslie Nielsen (Airplane! (1980)). Especially Nielsen's aura of comicality and Brooks' verbal comedy make the laughter roar here, while Peter MacNicol (24 (2007), TV-series) as Renfield is a bit tame.
The film contains lots of gags and fun, and it gives the Dracula world a serious squeeze in the butt. It is co-written by Brooks, Rudy De Luca (Silent Movie (1976)) and Steve Haberman (Life Stinks (1991)), and directed by Brooks as his last film in that role.
Dracula: Dead and Loving It is simply fun!

Related review:

Mel BrooksBlazing Saddles (1974) or, The Black Sheriff of Rock Ridge



Try not to be amused while watching the trailer for the film here - I dare you!

Cost: 30 mil. $
Box office: 10.6 mil. $ (North America only)
= Uncertainty
[But certainly a big flop, and probably even a huge flop. Dead and Loving It was met with contempt by critics at home, (its Rotten Tomatoes critics' average is just 3/10), and audiences stayed away from this otherwise undemanding serving. Only few foreign figures are out, (the film made 0.4 mil. £ in the UK, 148k paid admission in France, 16k in Portugal), which makes it impossible to determine the film's final commercial result. - How did it do in Germany, and in South America, for instance? That would be interesting to know. It was a sorry end to Brooks' career as a filmmaker, - but at least audiences today don't wholly agree with the harsh critics of '95: Dead and Loving It has an IMDb score of 5.7.]

What do you think of Dracula: Dead and Loving It?

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