Reception
Critical reaction to Dracula: Dead and Loving It has been overwhelmingly negative, with the film earning a "rotten" rating of only 9% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 35 reviews and a 3/10 rating.
James Berardinelli of ReelViews wrote: "Alas, Dracula: Dead and Loving It doesn't come close to the level attained by Young Frankenstein. It's a toothless parody that misses more often than it hits. ... Ultimately, however, Dracula is infected with the same disease that has plagued the last several Brooks films -- it's just not all that funny. Sure, there are humorous bits here and there throughout the running length, but not enough to justify an entire movie. ... Given the comic turn his career has taken since the early '80s, it's hard to believe that Leslie Nielsen was once a serious actor. These days, thanks to the Zucker brothers (Airplane, The Naked Gun), he has become an accomplished satirical performer. His sense of timing is impeccable, and this asset has made him a sought-after commodity for a wide variety of spoofs. Here, Nielsen takes on the title role, but his presence can't resurrect this stillborn lampoon. Unless you're a die hard Mel Brooks fan, there's no compelling reason to sit through Dracula: Dead and Loving It. The sporadic humor promises some laughs, but the ninety minutes will go by slowly. The general failure of this movie leads to one obvious question: why couldn't Brooks just leave Dracula dead and buried?"
Joe Leydon of Variety wrote: "Leslie Nielsen toplines to agreeable effect as Count Dracula, depicted here as a dead-serious but frequently flustered fellow who's prone to slipping on bat droppings in his baroque castle. ... Despite his initial appearance in a fluffed-up wig very similar to Gary Oldman's hairdo in Bram Stoker's Dracula, Nielsen sticks with a Bela Lugosi accent and a traditionally Continental interpretation of the part. ... Trouble is, while Dead and Loving It earns a fair share of grins and giggles, it never really cuts loose and goes for the belly laughs. Compared with the recent glut of dumb, dumber and dumbest comedies, Brooks's pic seems positively understated. Indeed, there isn't much here that would have seemed out of place (or too tasteless) in comedy sketches for TV variety shows of the 1950 s. ... As a result, unfortunately, Dead and Loving It is so mild, it comes perilously close to blandness. ... The only real sparks are set off by MacNicol as Renfield, the solicitor who develops a taste for flies and spiders after being bitten by Dracula. ... Brooks himself playfully mangles his dialogue with a Middle European accent as Professor Van Helsing, vampire hunter extraordinaire. As Mina, Harker's fiancee, Amy Yasbeck is amusingly saucy once Dracula has the chance to nibble on her neck. But neither Brooks nor Yasbeck ever gets a laugh as big as those earned by Anne Bancroft in her one-scene cameo as a gypsy woman named -- of course! -- Madame Ouspenskaya."
Despite the reviews, the film, like many of Mel Brooks's later films, has gained a cult following in later years.
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