There isn't any sight sadder than the old champion being unaware that his time has passed away. In 1970s and 1980s Mel Brooks used to be Hollywood's undisputed king of parody, film maker able not only to turn the least appreciated ways of exploiting Hollywood legacy into an art form but also to make some parodies whose reputations would overshadow the reputations of the film being parodied. But in 1990s, Mel Brooks' creative spark was definitely gone, but someone forgot to tell him, and in the end the audience was left with films like Dracula: Dead and Loving It, 1995 parody of Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 version of the classic vampire story.
Mel Brook's script for this film (written together with Rudy de Luca and Steve Haberman) uses almost exactly the same plot as Coppola's film. Evil Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula (played by Leslie Nielsen), with a help of Renfield (played by Peter MacNicol), settles in London and starts wreaking havoc on countryside, including the sanatorium run by Dr. Jack Seward (played by Harvey Korman). Dracula's targets include Seward's daughter Mina (played by Amy Yasbeck) and her lusty friend Lucy (played by Lysette Anthony). Only Mina's fiance Jonathan Harker (played by Steven Weber) and fearless vampire killer Dr. Abraham Van Helsing (played by Mel Brooks) can stop the evil vampire.
Dracula: Dead and Loving It is a clear illustration why parodies are so much disliked by critics and serious film scholars - they usually don't require much of creative energy. The scenes, characters and even the costumes are recreated from Bram Stoker's Dracula. But the most important ingredient for the parody - humour - was sorely missing. Brooks filled the film with gags and lines that are painfully unfunny and instead of laughing the audience would wince at the thought of once great film comedian who lost his ability. The general impression of this film is even worse when we consider the acting talent involved in it - Leslie Nielsen is Hollywood's parody specialist, while others have co-operated with Brooks before, with much better results. Peter MacNicol is the most impressive of them all, but only due to a single hilarious scene which, unfortunately, couldn't have saved this film.
RATING: 2/10 (-)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on September 15th 2003)
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