There were close-ups of his eyes that made me believe. “I believed Bela Lugosi was Dracula,” Brooks said in 1996.

But he was also drawing from personal experience - specifically, how much the 1931 Dracula had freaked him out as a boy. Francis Ford Coppola’s Oscar-winning Bram Stoker’s Dracula had been a sensation when it came out in 1992, and that movie formed much of the inspiration for Brooks’ subsequent parody.

He was more successful - at least commercially - with Robin Hood: Men of Tights, which capitalized on the popularity of Kevin Costner ’s hokey mega-hit Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and from there he decided to have some fun with vampire films. Spaceballs is beloved by Gen-Xers who grew up on the sci-fi films Brooks spoofed, but it wasn’t a hit, and neither was his follow-up film, 1991’s Life Stinks, a change-of-pace comedy that wasn’t a parody. (If anything, he was more interested in flexing his muscles as a producer, helping get The Elephant Man and David Cronenberg’s brilliant remake of The Fly off the ground.) The very uneven Spaceballs, which satirized Star Wars and blockbuster culture in general, had terrific moments, but also felt a bit tired. At the time, though, it really seemed like Brooks had lost his comedic touch - people treated this movie like a catastrophe.īut by the late 1980s, Brooks was having a harder time finding worthy targets for his comedy. Brooks would get his comeback eventually, restoring his legacy, but that doesn’t entirely detract from Dracula: Dead and Loving It’s very hit-or-miss quality. But it still represents a low ebb in Brooks’ career - plus, it effectively ended his film career. To be fair, Dracula: Dead and Loving It isn’t quite as terrible as its reputation would suggest. Unfortunately, this was 1995, when Mel Brooks ’ powers were fading. No doubt these were some of the reasons one of Hollywood’s most brilliant comic minds decided to spoof Dracula and Dracula movies. Also, what’s with the formal wear all the time? Of all the memorable horror monsters, Dracula is probably the most pretentious, which makes him the easiest to mock - just so long as he doesn’t get his fangs into you, of course. With his thick accent and haughty demeanor, the dude may be scary, but he’s also kind of a pompous stuffed shirt. It’s pretty easy to understand what’s amusing about the ageless creature.

Mel brooks mad about you firm embrace