Line #65 Film/DraculaDeadAndLovingIt


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3	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DraculaDeadAndLovingIt_4319.jpg]]
4
5	->"''My '''God!''' What'' are ''you doing to the furniture?''"
6
7	''Dracula: Dead and Loving It'' is a Creator/MelBrooks movie which was released in 1995 and starred Creator/LeslieNielsen as Dracula.
8
9	The story begins as a young solicitor from London, Thomas Renfield (Creator/PeterMacNicol), meets the mysterious Count Dracula. He begins to suspect that something is amiss, but the Count hypnotizes him before he can escape. The pair then travel to London, where the Count has purchased a manor next to an insane asylum. He meets his next-door neighbors at an opera: Dr. Seward (Creator/HarveyKorman), his daughter Mina (Creator/AmyYasbeck), her friend Lucy (Creator/LysetteAnthony), and Mina's fiance Jonathan Harker (Creator/StevenWeber). Shortly thereafter, Lucy becomes mysteriously ill. This prompts Dr. Seward to seek advice from his old friend Dr. Abram Van Helsing (Brooks).
10
11	Van Helsing informs Jonathan and Dr. Seward that they have "entered ze realm of ze supernatural!" and that Lucy is the victim of a vampire attack. It is imperative that the vampire is stopped before Lucy dies, or ''she vill become vun herrself!'' Sadly, Lucy does indeed die and rise again as a member of the evil bloodsucking undead. This finally convinces Jonathan Harker and Dr. Seward that there is a vampire in their midst. They set off to stop him...just as Mina begins to develop the same symptoms that Lucy had before she died.
12
13	All along the way, HilarityEnsues (literally, in this case).
14
15	----
16	!! This movie provides examples of:
17
18	* ActorAllusion:
19	** While this is the first time Creator/PeterMacNicol had ever played Renfield, this isn't the first time he's ever played TheRenfield, having played [[BigBad Vigo's]] brainwashed minion Janosz Poha in ''Film/GhostbustersII''. Especially ironic since Vigo the Carpathian was an {{Expy}} of Vlad the Impaler, {{Dracula}} being the most famous example.
20	** Steven Weber's character in a relationship with Amy Yasbeck's? [[Series/{{Wings}} where have we seen that before?]]
21	* AdaptedOut: Due to mostly being based on the 1931 film, Arthur Holmwood and Quincey Morris are both absent. There are also only two vampire brides as opposed to three.
22	* AdaptationalBadass: In the original 1931 film, Van Helsing stakes Dracula while he's asleep and vulnerable. In the film, he fights off Jonathan, Dr. Seward, and Abraham Van Helsing at the same time despite knowing his weakness, and it takes the sun rising (and [[SparedByTheAdaptation Renfield's]] incompetence) to finally finish him.
23	* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Vampire Lucy never goes hunting for children here.
24	* AdaptationalWimp: Dracula still has his shapeshifting, and CompellingVoice hypnotic powers, but lack's the novel Drac's [[DaywalkingVampire ability to walk out in the daytime]], hence being exposed to sunlight will (and did) kill him.
25	* AffectionateParody: Of ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' and various film versions thereof. Unlike most other parodies of the era, when original plots are created to parody various movies and tropes, this movie uses essentially the exact same plot, characters, and style as the [[Film/Dracula1931 1931 Universal version]]. Obviously, many scenes are changed to account for jokes and parody other vampire movies, such as {{Film/Nosferatu}}, the various Film/HammerHorror Dracula movies, and [[Film/BramStokersDracula the 1992 Coppola adaptation]].
26	* AmbiguousSyntax: Throughout his hypnotism of Mina, Dracula keeps giving instructions to "you" - leading to confusion as to whether the maid or Mina is the one he's referring to.
27	* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Dracula's plans for Mina. He even says thusly with this line (though he ends up mistaken her with the maid he was carrying and retrieves Mina and repeats the line at rapid-fire pace):
28	-->'''You'll be my bride throughout eternity. We'll share the endless passion of immortal love
29	%%* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Van Helsing's jobs.
30	%%-->'''Dr. Seward''': Count Dracula, allow me to introduce Professor Abraham Van Helsing of London University. He's a doctor of rare diseases, as well as theology and philosophy.
31	%%-->'''Van Helsing''': ''Und'' gynecology!
32	%%-->'''Dr. Seward''': [[DoubleEntendre Oh, I didn't know you had your hand in that too.]]
33	* AtTheOperaTonight: Where we (and Dracula) first meet Dr. Seward, Mina, Lucy, and Jonathan.
34	%%* BedlamHouse: Where Renfield is kept and treated with enemas.
35	* BloodLust: Best demonstrated when Renfield cuts his finger during the contract signing (causing a truly ridiculous amount of blood) and Dracula is... very bad at hiding how badly he wants to lap all that up.
36	* BloodyHilarious: Lucy's corpse spews a veritable fountain of blood when she is staked.
37	* BreakingAndBloodsucking: PlayedForLaughs, of course.
38	** Dracula in bat-form attempts to fly into Lucy's open window just in time for her to close it.
39	** Dracula is lurking outside Mina's window, but she has an inconvenient nurse inside with her. He's got them both under his spell, but they're mindlessly following his commands, and Dracula can't get the nurse to leave the room and Mina to let him in.
40	* BrickJoke: Van Helsing has to get the last word.
41	** Dracula gets in the last word himself at the very end of the end credits, making this even more hilarious because at that point ''he was DEAD''.
42	%%* BritishStuffiness: A main source of humor in the film.
43	%%-->'''Jonathan''': The opera is astonishing. The music is fraught with love, hate, sensuality, and unbridled passion... [[EstablishingCharacterMoment all the things in my life I've managed to suppress.]]
44	%%* BuffySpeak:
45	%%-->'''Jonathan:''' But Lucy, I'm engaged to Mina. And you're dead!
46	%%-->'''Vampire!Lucy:''' I'm not dead. I'm undead...!
47	%%-->'''Jonathan:''' Yes, well, I'm not un-engaged.
48	%%* CallBack: The door knocker crumbling in Renfield's hand, which Mel Brooks states is a deliberate reference to ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'' in that film's commentary. Also, Van Helsing pronouncing the word "back" like "beck."
49	* CeilingCling:
50	** Dracula uses this to escape detection. A slamming door causes him to come loose.
51	* CatapultNightmare: Dracula wakes up screaming and kicking from his "daymare".
52	%%* ClassicalMovieVampire: Dracula is a parody of this.
53	* CleavageWindow: Seen on the outfit worn by the woman Dracula hypnotizes at the opera.
54	%%* CloudCuckoolander: Everyone has this to a certain extent, but Renfield is the most obvious one.
55	* CobwebJungle: Carried over from ''Film/{{Dracula 1931}}'' and PlayedForLaughs. Reinfield sees Dracula go through a cobweb without disturbing it. He thought he could go through the webs themselves until it starts covering him.
56	* ComedicWorkSeriousScene: This is a pretty typical Creator/MelBrooks parody, but Lucy's funeral is appropriately somber and serious. The discovery of Lucy's first victim as a vampire is also played for horror, but her attempt to seduce [[BritishStuffiness Harker]] and subsequent [[BloodyHilarious staking]] go back into comedy.
57	* ComicallyMissingThePoint:
58	** The movie dips into this early, when the [[IAmVeryBritish rather obviously British]] Renfield stops in a small village outside the Count's castle, in a hurry for directions, as not to be late. Most of the villagers are horrified at his new boss, but...
59	---> '''Renfield''': I'm scheduled to meet Count Dracula.
60	---> '''Villager 1''': Dracula!?
61	---> '''Villager 2''': Dracula!?
62	---> '''Villager 3''': Dracula!?
63	---> '''Villager 4''': ..."shed-yooled?"
64	** Likewise when the vampire brides come to seduce him and suggestively rub against the bedposts.
65	---> '''Renfield''': My ''God'''... what ''are'' [[NotDistractedByTheSexy you doing to the furniture]]?
66	* CompellingVoice: Played with, as Dracula attempts to give instructions, but has difficulty getting people to do exactly what he wants and controlling multiple people at the same time. Usually results in general goofy chaos, which is par for the course in a Mel Brooks flick. Dracula seems to do this randomly as well, like when he tries to use it to get an usher to relay a (not in any way secret) message.
67	* CompositeCharacter: Brooks dispenses with all of Lucy's suitors except Seward, who becomes her much-older guardian instead. Harker takes over the role of all the four younger men. It's mentioned that he liked Lucy, while being Mina's suitor. Liked, not LIKE-Liked. Meanwhile, Harker's Transylvania adventures are given to Renfield.
68	* CreatorCameo: Taken to its LogicalExtreme with Van Helsing played by Creator/MelBrooks.
69	* DangerouslyLoadedCargo: Count Dracula's coffin is loaded onto a ship bound for England. During a storm, the coffin slides back and forth across the cargo bay with the Count yelping inside as it slams into the walls. Renfield tries weighing it down with his own body and eats a couple slams for his effort.
70	* DecoyProtagonist: The film seems to set Renfield up like this -- he is the solicitor from London who meets up with Dracula in the beginning, as opposed to Jonathan Harker from the novel. Then Renfield is made into Dracula's servant, and the focus of the film shifts to Jonathan, Mina, and eventually Van Helsing.
71	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Jonathan and Dr. Seward during the final confrontation; they already know they are dealing with a vampire, yet they don't bother to properly prepare themselves when confronting the count (like bringing stakes and garlic along) but instead try to fight him with their bare hands and whatever objects they find in his lair. It's even worse since [[SkewedPriorities they put plenty of time into setting up a dramatic reveal that Dracula was a vampire.]]
72	* DisappointedInYou: After Dracula catches his wives trying to seduce Renfield, he chews them out and asks "If that make him proud of them".
73	* DistractedByTheSexy: Vampire Lucy attempts this on Harker, to seduce him into vampirism.
74	-->'''Harker''': But Lucy, [[BritishStuffiness I'm British]]!\
75	'''Lucy''': ''[exposing her cleavage]'' So are ''these''!\
76	'''Harker''': [InelegantBlubbering]
77	* TheDitz: Renfield. He gleefully eats insects and spiders in front of Dr. Seward, leads the heroes straight to where Dracula is hidden even while ''knowing that they were following him'', and [[spoiler:exposes his master to sunlight in a bid to rescue him, finishing Dracula off]].
78	* DreamSequence: Dracula has a "[[BigLippedAlligatorMoment daymare]]," where he believes his vampirism is cured and goes out to enjoy the beauty of the light. Then he bursts into flame and wakes up screaming and running.
79	* DueToTheDead: [[spoiler:After he accidentally kills his master, a mournful Renfield gathers the ashes of Dracula, puts them in the coffin, and then forms a smiley face out of them to make Dracula "look like his old self again" before shutting it.]]
80	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Dracula is quite appalled when he spots his LivingShadow's more perverted side during his first dance with Mina. "NISHTAI!"
81	* EvilIsHammy: This Dracula leans a bit more ColdHam than Creator/BelaLugosi's. Creator/LeslieNielsen emphasizes him as TheCharmer.
82	* EvilGloating: Dracula does a bit of this during the film's climax.
83	--> "I will destroy you! And then I will possess she who you love the most, and [[TemptingFate there is not a single thing in the world you can do to stop me!"]]
84	** EyePoke: Jonathan's response.
85	* GhostlyGlide: Dracula's wives do this. Both lampshaded and subverted when he stops them from feeding on Renfield and tells them to leave. They start to do so by gliding away... before he tells them to knock it off and the women walk off normally instead.
86	* GracefulLandingClumsyLanding: When Dracula needs his mortal servant's aid to clear out the garlic from Lucy's bedchamber, he bends the bars on the window of Renfield's cell on the upper floor of Seward's asylum, then flies to the ground. Renfield attempts to follow, landing in a heap at his master's feet.
87	-->'''Dracula''': Renfield, I meant for you to use the drain pipe. ''I'' fly, ''you'' don't.
88	* GroinAttack: In the climax, Renfield's gets stepped on three times each by Jonathan, Van Helsing, and Seward. Helsing is the one who stomps on his junk while the trio chases after Dracula.
89	%%* HeroAntagonist: Van Helsing.
90	%%* HighPressureBlood: The staking scene.
91	* IDoNotDrinkWine: In Dracula's dream sequence, he thinks Lucy's blood cured him of his vampirism, and as he's enjoying himself, a couple offers him him a glass of wine. He starts to phrase the line, then subverts it by drinking it.
92	%%* TheIgor: Renfield to Dracula.
93	%%* IHaveBoobsYouMustObey: Harker: "But I am British!" Lucy: ''(Tearing open her dress)'' "And so are THESE!"
94	* IJustWantToBeNormal: Big lipped alligator moment aside; Dracula's daymare, where he can walk in the sunlight and apparently cured of his vampirism, suggests that he secretly wishes to become a human again, as he is overjoyed when apparently drinking Lucy's blood has cured him.
95	%%* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Dracula and Renfield.
96	* LargeHam: Several members of the cast but none more than Renfield. After he's hypnotized, it's amazing there's any scenery left by the end of the movie. Van Helsing (played by Creator/MelBrooks himself) is also no slouch in this department.
97	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Here and there, as expected.
98	-->'''Dr. Seward''': For Heaven's sake, who in all of England, by the furthest stretch of imagination, could possibly be a vampire?
99	-->'''Maid (introducing)''': Count Dracula.
100	-->'''Dr. Seward''': Well, maybe him.
101	* LivingShadow: Parodied in several scenes as a goof on ''Film/BramStokersDracula''. In one, Dracula falls down the stairs and claims to be perfectly fine. His shadow is then seen limping up the stairs behind him.
102	* TheLoad: Renfield proves to be more of a liability to Dracula than Van Helsing ever was, up to and including [[spoiler:killing him accidentally]].
103	* MissingReflection: Used in the dancing scene, when a huge mirror is produced and Dracula shows no reflection. Particularly hilarious when Dracula is spinning the woman in the air.
104	* MoodWhiplash: The opening credits are this up to eleven. They consist entirely of an incredibly foreboding and dramatic orchestral score playing over increasingly disturbing images of how vampires were depicted throughout history. It very effectively sets the mood...for a far more terrifying and serious movie than the silly comedy it actually is. Many viewers, even those who do not like the movie, often consider it the best and most memorable part, mostly because of how out of place it seems and how surprisingly well-done it is (Creator/JamesRolfe has said it might be the greatest opening to any vampire movie ever).
105	** When Lucy bites the cemetery night guard, it's a surprisingly effective JumpScare for a Mel Brooks movie.
106	** Dracula enlists [[TheLoad Renfield]] to remove the strands of garlic in Lucy's room, but Renfield decides he's more interested in [[ThePeepingTom sneaking a peek at her under the covers.]] After he's discovered and dragged back to his cell, Dracula [[CompellingVoice summons Lucy outside]] and kills her. The scene briefly cuts to her somber funeral.
107	** Dracula's unnatural power in the final confrontation leads to him defeating all of the heroes, and grabbing Jonathan by the throat. He begins a pretty damned scary and [[BadassBoast badass]] speech about how he is utterly invincible, everyone is going to die, and there is nothing in the world that they can do to stop [[spoiler:aaaaaaand then he gets poked in the eyes, by Johnathan, Three Stooges style]].
108	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Harker has this reaction upon staking and killing the newly vampiric Lucy. Van Helsing assures him that he did the right thing, releasing her from her torment and allowing her eternal rest.
109	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: At the end, [[spoiler:Renfield attempts to save Dracula by opening an escape route for him in the attic where Van Helsing and the heroes have Dracula cornered. But since morning has come and the sun is out, all he does is shine sunlight onto his master, killing him once and for all]].
110	* NoOntologicalInertia: [[spoiler:Double-subverted. After Dracula's death, Renfield cries and continues to call him his Master, and only snaps back to normal after Dr. Seward reminds him that he's now his own man. Renfield then follows Seward out, calling ''him'' "Master".]]
111	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Creator/LeslieNielsen briefly drops his Transylvanian accent when Dracula receives an EyePoke during the film's climax.
112	%%* PivotalWakeup: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] by a chandelier.
113	* ProfaneLastWords: Dracula has escaped the vampire hunters, and is hiding in the rafters when Renfield throws open a trapdoor in the roof so his Master can escape. Only one problem: it was daylight. And there was ''nothing'' to block full sun from hitting Drac, either.
114	--> '''Dracula:''' ''screams in pain'' Renfield, you asshole!
115	* {{Pun}}: "Yes, we have 'Nosferatu.' We have 'Nosferatu' ''today''!" [[note]]In case you didn't know, this is a play on the song "Yes! We Have No Bananas".[[/note]]
116	* RainOfBlood: This is why Van Helsing insists on standing out of the way during Lucy's staking. He even brags about it to Seward later.
117	** Not to mention Renfield's finger cut. It squirts like a geyser.
118	* TheRenfield: The TropeNamer appears, and Peter [=MacNicol=] (who had previously played a Renfield in ''Film/GhostbustersII'') plays the role [[LargeHam as hammy as possible]].
119	* RunningGag: Dr. Seward would give Reinfield enemas once he finds him outside of his holding cell.
120	-->'''Dr. Seward''': Gives him a feeling of ''accomplishment''.
121	%%** Van Helsing and Dracula both want to have the final (Transylvanian) word in a conversation, [[spoiler: extending all the way to when Dracula's just a pile of dust and Van Helsing still sticks his head back inside to say something. And then it extends to the ''end of the credits.'']]
122	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When Van Helsing begins to brandish the cross at Dracula in the final battle, Dracula's shadow decides it's had enough and bugs out.
123	* ShoutOut: Prof. Van Helsing conducts an autopsy to first year students but gets all of them to faint and give him the rest of the day off. In ''Series/QuincyME'', Jack Klugman's character did the same to a group of rookie (first-year) policemen, and got them to all faint in order to continue with his investigation.
124	* SickAndWrong: Renfield's initial reaction to Dracula's brides trying to seduce him. It doesn't last long.
125	--> '''Renfield:''' [[BlackComedyRape What are you doing? No! This is wrong! This is wrong, this is wrong!]] ''[{{Beat}}]'' [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale Wrong me, wrong me, wrong my BRAINS out! Mm-mm-mmm-mmm-MM!]]
126	* SilverFox: Lucy shows an immediate attraction to Dracula who has a head full of white hair (Nielsen was 69 at the time the film was released).
127	* StakingTheLovedOne: Parodied, since Van Helsing tells Harker Lucy has to be staked by someone who loved her in life. Jonathan replies that he only liked her. Helsing tells him it's close enough. To be fair, "liked" actually works too.
128	-->'''Van Helsing''': It must be done by one who loved her in life!\
129	-->'''Harker''': I only ''liked'' her!\
130	-->'''Van Helsing''': Close enough!
131	* {{Squick}}: In-universe, the autopsy scene, with Professor Van Helsing deliberately making his students pass out via ickiness.
132	-->'''Nurse:''' Oh, doctor! Ten out of ten!
133	* SuperWindowJump: How Dracula escapes the ball after being revealed as a vampire.
134	* SmallNameBigEgo: Dracula says at one point, "They are fools to think they can match wits with me! Me who can control the forces of darkness! Me who has commanded the creatures of the night to do my bidding!" Says the guy who got knocked out of his hiding place by an old Englishman slamming a door. This is the same ancient evil who cannot rise from his coffin without banging his head on the chandelier.
135	** Not to mention that he crashes into Lucy's bedroom window as she closed it. Who would have thought you can keep out vampires with [[Film/MyBigFatGreekWedding Windex]]? (That has some basis in myth, actually -- that a vampire can't enter a house without being invited in, and is actually reflected in the original novel, but in this case it has no plot relevance at all.)
136	* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Renfield survives in the film]]. Funnily enough Reinfield wanted Dracula to punish him for his failure, and the latter just lifts him by his throat
137	%%** [[spoiler:And the brides, apparently, as the climax doesn't move back to Dracula's castle. Thus, they're not staked.]]
138	* TrickAndFollowPloy: The heroes release Renfield from the asylum in hopes that he will fall victim to this and lead them to his master. Renfield is somewhat wise to this, having been warned by Dracula not to fall for it. However, he's not quite wise ''enough,'' and just shuffles around for a minute in a small square, believing ''that'' will be enough to throw them off.
139	-->'''Van Helsing:''' Gentlemen, we are fortunate!\
140	'''Dr. Seward:''' Why?\
141	'''Van Helsing:''' He's an ''imbecile!''
142	* VampiresAreSexGods: Upon turning into a vampire, Lucy changes from a proper upper-class Victorian English lady into a lusty temptress. Even being bitten is enough to make the equally patrician Mina more frisky than usual. Neither of their charms work on [[ChasteHero Jonathan]]. Count Dracula himself, on the other hand, is the more traditional "[[AffablyEvil gentlemanly vampire]]" (although [[LivingShadow his shadow]] is far more horny).
143	* VampireDance: Van Helsing and co. set up a party for the high society. Dracula begins an elaborate dance with Mina. Then the cover is pulled off of the floor-length mirror, revealing that Dracula has no reflection.
144	** Hilarity ensues when he spirals her in the air, and in the mirror it looks like she's flying in circles.
145	** His first scene with her after hypnotizing her leads to a dance in which he compliments her technique, and his LivingShadow starts humping hers.
146	* VampiresHateGarlic: The ridiculous amount of garlic that Van Helsing strings up in Lucy's room to protect her from Dracula would drive ''anybody'' away, living or undead.
147	* VampireVords: Even Mel Brooks, as Van Helsing, plays with this trope, but it's mostly Dracula who does it.
148	%%* VillainProtagonist: Dracula, of course.
149	%%* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Dracula into his bat form, of course.
150	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The two brides back in Dracula's castle are never seen after their one scene.
151	%%* YiddishAsASecondLanguage: Mel Brooks as Van Helsing.
152	* YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord: Played with. Van Helsing tells Harker that Lucy has become Nosferatu. Harker's response: "She's ''Italian?''"
153	* YouHaveFailedMe: When Renfield accidentally leads the heroes to Dracula (who's about to feed on Mina), Renfield ''insists'' that Dracula invoke this on him. Dracula wasn't even going to bother, but eventually just kicks him down the stairs to shut him up.

Context Film / DraculaDeadAndLovingIt