Editorial Reviews

Two hair-brained New York journalists are sent to Transylvania in order to investigate some amateur video footage that purports to show the Frankenstein monster…

The sole feature film directed by frequent Mel Brooks collaborator Rudy de Luca, 1985’s Transylvania 6-5000 is more Scary Movie than Young Frankenstein insofar as horror movie spoofs go. Played strictly as a slapstick comedy, the script to this turkey does highlight a handful of amusing moments (mainly thanks to future Seinfeld star Michael Richards, who plays a butler with a distinctly bad sense of humour) but they are too infrequent to really minimise the boredom.

Of course, for fans of Universal genre flicks, there are several in-jokes – and The Mummy, The Wolf Man and The Frankenstein Monster (incorrectly referred to as Frankenstein throughout the movie!) all make appearances. However, aside from Geena Davis as a sexy, scantily clad vamp, none of the antagonists are especially memorable or do any justice to their golden age inspirations.

However, this new DVD comes with a great audio commentary from De Luca and “visual consultant” Steve Haberman. Both point out the movie’s many failings, indicate how it could have been a lot better and show little in the way of ego. It makes for a refreshing change.

Plot Summary

• Plot Synopsis:

  Tabloid reporters Jack Harrison (Jeff Goldblum) and Gil Turner (Ed Begley Jr.) are sent to Transylvania with two choices: find the Frankenstein monster or find new jobs. But before the jumpy journalists can dig up their big story, they must first face the horrors of an extremely clumsy butler (Michael Richards), a nymphomaniac vampire (Geena Davis) and a semi-mad doctor (Joseph Bologna), as well as assorted mummies, werewolves and more Transylvanian oddballs. Can these two bumbling heroes unravel this monstrous mystery or are they in for some very scary surprises?

Product Details

• Actors: Jeff Goldblum, Joseph Bologna, Ed Begley Jr., Carol Kane, Jeffrey Jones
• Directors: Rudy De Luca
• Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: None
• Disc Origin: Region 1 (USA) Original
• Region: All
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Anamorphic)
• Number of discs: 1 (1 x DVD5)
• Rating: PG
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• DVD Release Date: April 02, 2002
• Run Time: 94 minutes