It seemed inevitable with the cult following of "Young Frankenstein" over the years that eventually Mel Brooks would tackle "Dracula". The success of Francis Ford Coppola "Bram Stoker's Dracula" seemed right for the spoofing, and Brooks took the best of the original "Nosferatu", threw in the Continental flavor of the Bela Lugosi classic, and found the right elements of the recent version to turn into an update that is the only production of the story where the British characters actually mention Vlad the Impaler, the real life count which "Dracula" was based on. Who better to cast as the aging count then spoof king Leslie Nielsen? Surviving a few misfires of the spoof genre, Nielsen found a role that was perfect for his talents and offered a classy part for the veteran actor, his only time working with Mel Brooks.
Sharing the acting honours spotlight with Nielsen is Peter MacNichol who seems to be emulating Marty Feldman in his performance as Renfield. He is perfectly top-drawer as the sane Renfield, and delightfully over-the-top as the bug eating servant under Dracula's control. Steve Weber will make you forget that Keanu Reeves ever played Jonathan Harker as his accent remains consistent even though he is very All American as this "veddy" British character, a polite slap to Reeves l'ridiculous performance. Mel Brooks is perfect as Van Helsing, underplaying it wisely where people expected him to overplay it. Lysette Anthony and Amy Yasbeck are fine as the two ladies, but their parts are not as well written as the men's. In fact, both roles seem interchangeable, quite different than the 1992 Coppola version. Harvey Korman is basically unrecognizable as the ladies' father.
The set is perfect, looking totally like Dracula's castle both in the Carpathian mountains and in London, and the costumes are dead on. There is a hysterical gag repeated several times involving Nielsen's hair, and of course Brooks has to insert a musical number, here actually two dance numbers. I don't think this is a perfect film or among Brooks' best, but it's a throwback to his love of Cinema and what he had done so brilliantly in the 1970's. OOf course right after that he would take on Broadway with both the smash hit "The Producers" and an average retelling of "Young Frankenstein". As for "Dracula", it got its own musical version with the unfortunate Frank Wildhorn production, one of the most boring nights on Broadway I have ever spent. Compared to that, Mel Brooks' "Dracula" is a classic.
Sharing the acting honours spotlight with Nielsen is Peter MacNichol who seems to be emulating Marty Feldman in his performance as Renfield. He is perfectly top-drawer as the sane Renfield, and delightfully over-the-top as the bug eating servant under Dracula's control. Steve Weber will make you forget that Keanu Reeves ever played Jonathan Harker as his accent remains consistent even though he is very All American as this "veddy" British character, a polite slap to Reeves l'ridiculous performance. Mel Brooks is perfect as Van Helsing, underplaying it wisely where people expected him to overplay it. Lysette Anthony and Amy Yasbeck are fine as the two ladies, but their parts are not as well written as the men's. In fact, both roles seem interchangeable, quite different than the 1992 Coppola version. Harvey Korman is basically unrecognizable as the ladies' father.
The set is perfect, looking totally like Dracula's castle both in the Carpathian mountains and in London, and the costumes are dead on. There is a hysterical gag repeated several times involving Nielsen's hair, and of course Brooks has to insert a musical number, here actually two dance numbers. I don't think this is a perfect film or among Brooks' best, but it's a throwback to his love of Cinema and what he had done so brilliantly in the 1970's. OOf course right after that he would take on Broadway with both the smash hit "The Producers" and an average retelling of "Young Frankenstein". As for "Dracula", it got its own musical version with the unfortunate Frank Wildhorn production, one of the most boring nights on Broadway I have ever spent. Compared to that, Mel Brooks' "Dracula" is a classic.