The Arsenal Files 6/The Arsenal Files 6 (Arsenal Computer).ISO/epub/df9601r.zip/FDC

Text File | 1996-01-01 | 6KB | 120 lines

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Movie Review:
DRACULA - DEAD AND LOVING IT
  by Dave Bealer
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  In December 1974 Mel Brooks was at the top of his form. That
summer BLAZING SADDLES had become Mel's first smash hit, making him
a "name" movie director. Before the year was out YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
followed "SADDLES" into the theaters and the fans went wild . . .
again. In one year Mel Brooks released two of the funniest movies
of all time, not to mention inventing a whole new class of comedy
motion picture, the genre parody, in the process.

  On top of the world in the mid-1970s, Mel Brooks had his pick
of major stars willing to do cameos in his films for peanuts. But
it eventually became apparent that Mel would never produce another
film to match his two 1974 masterpieces. Although Mel's place in
cinema history was already secure, others began to eclipse the
master at his own genre.

  Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker, the loons responsible for the
AIRPLANE movies and the POLICE SQUAD/NAKED GUN insanity, took the
Brooks recipe a step further. This mad trio managed to cram more
jokes into each minute of celluloid than Brooks had in any given
scene. While none of their individual jokes were as good as the
best Mel Brooks fare, the cumulative effect was astounding.

  Mel Brooks continued to direct, producing a series of mediocre
to good films, bottoming out with his 1987 turkey, SPACEBALLS. Two
years ago Brooks was back, with ROBIN HOOD - MEN IN TIGHTS. This
parody of the "steal from the rich, give to the poor" genre was
hardly brilliant, and less convincing than the liberal democrats
in Congress. "Men in Tights" was, however, the best Mel Brooks
film since his 1981 effort, HISTORY OF THE WORLD - PART I.

  Christmas weekend 1995 brings us to the latest Mel Brooks
offering. DRACULA - DEAD AND LOVING IT stars Leslie Nielsen as
Count Drebin, Detective Vampire, Transylvania Police Squad . . .
or so it seems. The clothes and dental work are fancier, but it
still adds up to classic slapstick Drebin. Brooks apparently
decided that if he couldn't be as good as the Zuckers, he could
at least "borrow" the biggest star in their universe, and have
Nielsen recreate the wackiest cop ever to scarf down a doughnut.
Nielsen really sinks his teeth into the task of playing Drebin-
as-Dracula, although even he seems to be getting a bit tired of
the repetition.

  Not all the problems with DRACULA stem from the Mel Brooks
writing and directing. The supporting cast does a mediocre job
overall, which seems to be a common problem with later Brooks
films.

  Peter MacNichol plays mousey London barrister Thomas Renfield,
the first victim of Dracula, doomed to be the vampire's idiotic
henchman. MacNichol did a great job with this type of character
in DRAGONSLAYER, the wimpey assistant who eventually saves the
day. His performance here will leave true Mel Brooks fans wishing
that Marty Feldman was alive to reprise his I-gor role from YOUNG
FRANKENSTEIN. (By the by, has it occurred to anyone else that the
bad guys would do a lot better in movies if their henchmen weren't
all blithering idiots?)

  Harvey Korman can be absolutely hilarious, a fact he proved
time after time as a cast member of the CAROL BURNETT SHOW back
in the 1960s. Korman also did excellent work as a member of the
classic Mel Brooks repertory company of the 1970s and 80s. In 1995
the man looks burned out. Rather than having the good sense to
retire, Korman plays Doctor Seward, a psychiatrist with an enema
fixation (denizens of the relevant alt.sex.* newsgroups take note).

  Lysette Anthony plays Mina Seward, the daughter of the good
doctor, and the apple of Dracula's eye. Anthony does a decent job,
although her performance doesn't quite come up to the level of her
previous work, such as the fake Leslie Giles in WITHOUT A CLUE.

  Why Mel Brooks continues to insist on acting in his own
films remains a mystery. His last really good performance was in
his various roles in HISTORY OF THE WORLD - PART I. The problem is
that his performances tend to be inconsistent. They range from
sheer genius as the idiotic horney governor and the Yiddish-spouting
Sioux chieftain in BLAZING SADDLES to his pathetic turn as the
President in SPACEBALLS. Brooks' other big problem (although this
can occasionally be an asset in comedy) is that he's the second
ugliest actor/director working today. The ugliest actor/director
is, of course, Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame.

  Despite all this, Brooks does a credible job in the role of
Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, ace vampire hunter. Van Helsing's dialogue
with Dracula is the source of the best running gag in the film. Van
Helsing knows that "location is one of the most important things in
life," which may well be the main lesson this flick has to offer.

  To sum up -- no, it's not YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, but it does
beat SPACEBALLS, and probably ROBIN HOOD - MEN IN TIGHTS. (At
least Brooks refrained from including his trademark "Wink, wink,
we're inside a movie" references in every other scene like he did
in the latter work.) This film will appeal primarily to die hard
Mel Brooks fans and to followers of the NAKED GUN movies. No, it
doesn't have O.J. in it, but it does have plenty of blood.

                              {DREAM}

Copyright 1996 Dave Bealer, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Dave Bealer is a thirty-something mainframe systems programmer who
works with CICS, MVS and all manner of nasty acronyms at one of the
largest heavy metal shops on the East Coast. He shares a waterfront
townhome in Pasadena, MD. with two cats who annoy him endlessly as
he writes and publishes electronically. Dave can be reached via
e-mail at: [e-mail]
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