- Title: UNITED STATES: MEL BROOKS SHOOTS 'DRACULA - DEAD AND LOVING IT'
- Date: 21st September 1994
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES WIDE OF BALLROOM SET
- Embargoed: 6th October 1994 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Topics: Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVAB1MQ75HHKRIH41J2NK7VXDZBC
- Story Text: He's satirized the work of Alfred Hitchcock in "High Anxiety"; taken pot-shots at Westerns in "Blazing Saddles", and sent up Mary Shelley's monster in the cult classic "Young Frankenstein." Now, writer-director Mel Brooks is taking a stab at another of Hollywood's most enduring horror legends - that of Dracula.
In "Dracula - Dead and Loving It" Leslie Neilsen dons the eerie count's cape. Amy Yasbeck plays Mina, the object of his desires.
It isn't always easy work for Yasbeck. What starts as a straightforward ballroom scene turns into an elaborate stunt, with the actress soaring three metres off the ground.
To achieve the effect, the crew had to construct two special rigs. One spins Yasbeck around as if she is being twirled by an invisible dance partner; a second lifts her off the ground for the finale.
"Dracula" is Yasbeck's second on-screen collaboration with Brooks. The pair worked together in "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" and Brooks jumped at the chance to cast her again.
Neilsen, veteran of numerous comedies, also had to learn a few new tricks to play Transylvania's Prince of Darkness.
The movie is expected to be ready for release in the United States by the end of the year. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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