Dracula - Dead and Loving It

• A comic reinvention of the Bela Lugosiic about a Transylvanian vampire who works his evil spell on a perplexed group of Londoners. Mel Brooks's Count is a pratfalling evil prince of a guy who believes in long relationships. Brooks portrays vampire hunter Van Helsing, who won't give a bloodsucker an even break.Running Time: 90 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG-13 Ag

A comic reinvention of the Bela Lugosi classic about a Transylvanian vampire who works his evil spell on a perplexed group of Londoners. Mel Brooks's Count is a pratfalling evil prince of a guy who believes in long relationships. Brooks portrays vampire hunter Van Helsing, who won't give a bloodsucker an even break.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary by director/co-writer Mel Brooks, co-stars Steven Weber and Amy Yasbeck, and co-writers Rudy De Luca and Steve Haberman
Theatrical Trail! er

In 1995, it was promising to hear that Mel Brooks was creating "the companion piece to Young Frankenstein." He had also brought in the heavyweight of deadpan--Leslie Nielsen. As Lt. Frank Drebin in the Police Squad movies, Nielsen has no peer for silly stuff--just the player Brooks would seem to need for a strong movie, as any fan of Brooks perpetually hopes a new film may rekindle his madcap magic. Alas, the end results in Dracula: Dead and Loving It include a sprinkling of amusements and one big belly laugh. Brooks and his writers use a very tight adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, but the spoofs can be spelled out as we go, as if they are paint-by-number. Some are jabs at Coppola's version of Dracula, but most are attached to classic Dracula films. If any real pleasure comes from the movie it's thanks to the efforts of the cast. Peter MacNicol plays the crazed Renfield to the letter, Steven Weber has a good time as the tight Bri! tish Harkin, and Lysette Anthony charms as the doomed Lucy. Br! ooks and Nielsen ham it up just fine. There's even a surprisingly controlled performance by Harvey Korman (a character spoofing Anthony Hopkins's role in the misfire The Road to Wellville). As with Brooks's period comedies, the film looks better than it needs to and includes a few tricky special effects for good measure. This has nothing to do with the audience laughing--we need bigger jokes. And when you double over laughing in one scene--involving a stake through the heart and a bucket of blood--you want the movie to achieve Brooks's days of glory, when hearty laughter was the norm, not an isolated moment. --Doug Thomas

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Alone With Her

• Surveillance is often used by directors who are keen to add a voyeuristic touch to their work, and has been cleverly used as a plot device inics such as BODY DOUBLE, THE CONVERSATION, and REAR WINDOW. In ALONE WITH HER, director Eric Nicholas (RIVER RATS) takes the theme to its logical conclusion, shooting an entire movie on cameras stashed in ingenious locations by the film's central protagon

(Thriller) Obsession can be deadly. ALONE WITH HER is the harrowing story of a disturbed young man’s attempts to win the affections of an unsuspecting young woman. As his fascination grows into obsession he’s no longer satisfied with just watching.

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House of D

• Actors: David Duchovny, Tea Leoni, Robin Williams, Anton Yelchin, Erykah Badu.
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC.
• Language: English, French. Subtitles: English, Spanish.
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only).
• Rated PG-13. Run Time: 97 minutes.

In his directorial debut David Duchovny delivers a classic coming-of-age tale. To reconcile with his 13-year-old son and estranged wife artist Tom Warshaw (Duchovny) revisits the life changing events of his own adolescence in New York City in 1973 when his best friends were Pappass (Robin Williams) a mentally challenged janitor and Lady (Erykah Badu) a truth-dispensing detainee in the East Village's legendary Women's House of Detention. Filled with laugh-out-load moments as well as poignancy House Of D is a warmhearted and wise film.System Requirements: Running Tim! e 97 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 UPC: 031398177654 Manufacturer No: 17765House of D is a bittersweet, moving story of an American expatriate's painful decision to come to terms with the childhood he fled in early 1970s New York City. David Duchovny wrote and directed this comedy-drama; he also stars as the adult version of the film's hero, Tom Warshaw, an illustrator who has spent most of his life in Paris and decidesâ€"on the occasion of his son's birthdayâ€"to finally reveal long-withheld facts about his past.

The bulk of the story, told in flashback, portrays 13-year-old Tom (Anton Yelchin) as a quick-witted prince of his neighborhood, a delivery boy who knows every eccentric on his bicycle route and a Catholic school kid fond of playing pranks on his clueless French teacher and soulful principal (Frank Langella). His best friend is the school's mildly retarded, 41-year-old janitor, Pappas (Robin Williams), and his advisor on matters o! f the heart is Lady (Erykah Badu), a prison inmate whom the fa! therless Tom (or Tommy, as he's called in 1973) can neither see nor touch. Tommy's vivacity is an asset at home, where his mother (Tea Leoni), a grieving widow with a mounting addiction to pills, is slipping away from her son's ability to help. Duchovny's screenplay sometimes borders on the precious: A number of scenes are enamored with their own boldness and originality, as if Duchovny has been squirreling away lots of colorfully expressive storytelling details for years, and unloaded them here. But that flaw all but disappears in the glow of House of D's emotional resonance and honesty, not to mention several exceptional performances. Among these is Zelda Williams's work as Tommy's sage-beyond-her-years girlfriend, Melissa, whose name offers a suitable excuse to work a rather lovely Allman Brothers song into the soundtrack. --Tom Keogh

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