30 years later, Mel Brooks’ Dracula satire is still his weirdest misfire

Mel Brooks is arguably one of the most iconic spoof movie directors of all time, with films like Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein still serving as comedic touchstones decades later. The same cannot be said for Dracula: Dead and Loving It. Brooks’ vampire send-up skulked into theaters on December 22, 1995, and the reviews were brutal. Famed film critic Roger Ebert put it bluntly: “The movie’s not very funny.” Three decades later, that hasn’t exactly changed, although with hindsight, it’s possible to see what Brooks was at least going for with his bizarre Dracula parody.