Dracula: Dead and Loving It Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Dracula: Dead and Loving It Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 28, 2021

The early 1990s brought the work of writer/director Mel Brooks to a new audience, and the audience wasn’t exactly thrilled to see Mel Brooks. There was 1991’s “Life Stinks,” which was entirely sold as a Mel Brooks experience, dying a quick death at the box office. And his return to parody cinema, 1993’s “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” managed to collect cult appreciation over time, but not initial multiplex interest. 1995’s “Dracula: Dead and Loving It” was intended to be Brooks’s grand return to the pantsing of horror movies, connected to 1974’s “Young Frankenstein,” one of his highest grossing endeavors and most beloved creative efforts. It was an uphill battle for the helmer, who attempts to have fun with vampire fever conjured by Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” and the endurance of the 1931 Bela Lugosi chiller, adding his increasingly tired Brooks-isms along the way. “Dracula: Dead and Loving It” might’ve been more energized if it was produced in the 1970s, but over two decades after “Young Frankenstein,” the whole thing just lays there on the screen, fighting for funny business that never arrives. The Brooks touch is gone from this one, though he certainly tries to revive long dormant genre magic.

In 1893, Renfield (Peter MacNicol) is a solicitor on his way to meet with Count Dracula (Leslie Nielsen) to complete the mystery figure’s purchase of an English estate. During his overnight visit, Renfield is exposed to the power of Dracula, becoming the creature’s slave, helping him to make his journey to England. Arriving in the new land, Dracula is exposed to his neighbors, including Dr. Seward (Harvey Korman) and his daughter, Mina (Amy Yasbeck), who’s engaged to Jonathan Harker (Steven Weber). In need of blood to survive, Dracula drains Mina’s friend, Lucy (Lysette Anthony), turning her into something not exactly human, triggering panic from Dr. Seward, who calls in Professor Van Helsing (Mel Brooks) to help with the mystery. Recognizing the work of a dangerous monster, Van Helsing tries to uncover the strange ways of Dracula, with the vampire now focused on claiming Mina as his new bride.

Money was spent to bring “Dracula: Dead and Loving It” to life. It’s not a cheap-looking parody, giving Brooks some room to create his period fantasy, which is filled with costumes, sets, and visual effects, which are required to detail the vampire’s special presence as he turns into a bat or partakes in a dance while standing in front of a mirror. Brooks wants to recapture the look of the 1931 picture while still embarking on his silly business, and visually, there are some highlights to the endeavor. It’s the writing that’s not as compelling, with Brooks, Steve Haberman, and Rudy De Luca straining to sustain a semi-vaudeville approach to “Dracula: Dead and Loving It,” which primarily plays like an Abbott & Costello production, watching the characters as they encounter plenty of slapstick moments and comedic interactions. Renfield is the first person on-screen and MacNicol delivers the broadest performance in the feature, transforming his vampiric slave into a wacky bop bag, taking a beating as he deals with a rough carriage ride, Dracula’s castle of sticky webs, and he’s ultimately stomped on by multiple men in the grand finale. MacNicol isn’t holding back here, but he comes the closest to triggering laughs with Renfield’s love of eating bugs, which disgusts Dr. Seward.

“Dracula: Dead and Loving It” has a large cast, but Nielsen in the eponymous role isn’t an inspired choice. With his career brought back to life due to the success of “The Naked Gun” movies, Nielsen dived into parody pictures, with the Brooks film one of six he participated in during the 1990s. His casting feels lazy, and his performance isn’t much better, leaving the Dracula scenes somewhat predictable with their Nielsen-isms. The supporting cast fares a little better, with Yasbeck a spirited Mina, and Weber a stuffy Harker. Brooks is doing his Brooks-ian material as Van Helsing, but he looks like he’s having fun, which helps, even if all his jokes are DOA. Korman is most welcome here, offering his celebrated timing and reactions to a feature that ultimately doesn’t know what to do with him. Why isn’t he playing Dracula again?

Dracula: Dead and Loving It Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is a decent catalog release from Shout Factory. "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" has some technical achievements to study during the run time, and while softness remains, ornate costuming retains fibrousness, along with set interiors with all their decorative additions. Skin surfaces are reasonably textured, surveying differences in age and vampiric disease. Colors are intact, exploring the gothic appearance of castle and estate tours. Clothing brightens up with lively reds and blues, while suits display colder browns and grays. Skintones are natural. Delineation is satisfactory. Source is in good condition, with mild speckling.

Dracula: Dead and Loving It Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix provides a wider listening experience for "Dracula: Dead and Loving It." Dialogue exchanges are sharp, preserving comedic timing and clarifying broad accents. Scoring supports moods with distinct instrumentation, offering a more pronounced presence with dance sequences. Sound effects are enjoyably broad, along with castle atmospherics and evening activity.

Dracula: Dead and Loving It Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features co-writer/director Mel Brooks, co-writers Steve Haberman and Ruby De Luca, and actors Amy Yasbeck and Steven Weber.

• "Mel and His Movies" (10:05, SD) is a 2012 interview with co-writer/director Mel Brooks, who only offers a few thoughts on "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" between lengthy clips from the feature. Viewing the picture as a "companion piece" to "Young Frankenstein," Brooks returns to classic horror for inspiration. Casting additions are noted, including Leslie Nielsen, and Brooks identifies his own performance as an impression of Albert Basserman's work in Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent." Brooks also shares his favorite scene from "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" before bringing the whole thing to an abrupt close.

• Making Of (7:57, SD) is pulled from the "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" EPK, gathering cast and crew to explore the origins and execution of the feature. Some on-set footage is included, which is always welcome, but the rest of the featurette involves used car salesman-style interviews and a general celebration of the shoot.

• T.V. Spots (3:42, SD) offer nine commercials for "Dracula: Dead and Loving It."

• And a Teaser Trailer (1:29, SD) and a Theatrical Trailer (2:06, SD) are included.

Dracula: Dead and Loving It Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The screenplay offers the highlights of the "Dracula" story, as plot is of no real concern to Brooks, who's more interested in enema jokes and displays of gushing blood. The production eventually slips into Three Stooges mode to crank up levels of wackiness, and the whole thing starts to feel a quite desperate in the final act, scrambling to find some comedic chaos to end on. Unless there's some type of career miracle, "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" represents the final directorial outing for Brooks, who elects to end his career on a down note of repetition. It's not the way things should've worked out for the beloved filmmaker, but it's clear while watching "Dracula: Dead and Loving It" that he was out of fresh ideas for absurdity.