Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases


Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

Director: Mel Brooks

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Brooks has always grounded his humour on high production values, a practice admirers claim achieves satirical effect and fond hommage. Certainly, this is as lavish as ever, and the narrative likewise takes care to keep up with both Stoker's original and the Coppola facsimile. There are some slight shortcuts. Renfield (MacNicol), not Jonathan Harker, travels to Transylvania, where Dracula (Nielsen) entrances and enslaves him, thus securing food (the crew of the Demeter) and shelter (Carfax Abbey). The Count provides the clothing himself - a Gary Oldman-esque bouffant wig, for instance, which he takes off indoors (one of the surviving jokes). Coppola had trouble stuffing the book into two hours, and this hasty hour-and-a-half feels perfunctory in the extreme. Brooks, as Van Helsing, is one of the more successful aspects, but he hasn't imbued in his stock company a similar ability to rise above their underwritten roles.

Author: NB

Time Out Film Guide


What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Top Stories

Ridley Scott interview

Ridley Scott interview

Director Ridley Scott tells Cath Clarke why he's making a science fiction comeback

Cannes Film Festival 2012: half-time report

Cannes Film Festival 2012: half-time report

Dave Calhoun reports on the hits, misses and a shocking new masterpiece from Michael Haneke

Wes Anderson interview

Wes Anderson interview

Cath Clarke talks to the director of Cannes's opening film

Open-air movies in London

Open-air movies in London

Cath Clarke rounds up this summer's crop of outdoor film screenings

The 100 best French films

The 100 best French films

In honour of Cannes, we reveal the best French films of all time

Ken Loach interview

Ken Loach interview

Ken Loach talks to us about his Cannes Film Festival entry 'The Angels' Share'