ChikPapa Very disappointed :(
ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.
Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to of the 1%
Staci Frederick Blistering performances.
squeezebox Transylvania 6-5000 is really quite terrible. It's a juvenile, sophomoric, amateurish comedy that the actors and filmmakers appear to have made up as they went along and then stuck together in the editing room. But the movie is chock full of non sequitur moments that range from bizarre to hilarious.As the two tabloid journalists who travel to Transylvania to get a story, Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley, Jr make a strange duo. Goldblum's performance is offbeat and funny one minute then uncomfortably flat the next. One gets the feeling he started out having fun but at some point during the production grew bored. On the other hand Begley is great as the dopey, manic reporter who really believes they're going to blow the lid off the Frankenstein legend.Michael Richards's only direction seems to have been "be weird." He takes his chiropractor character from "Fridays" to unprecedented heights of outlandishness and his unhinged performance is one of the highlights of the movie. Jeffrey Jones, John Byner and Carol Kane are, as always, goofy and fun, as is Joseph Balonga as a mad scientist who only seems to go mad when he physically steps foot in his laboratory. Rounding out the principal cast are Geena Davis as a sexy vampire lady and Teresa Ganzel as Goldblum's love interest. Ganzel appears to be so delighted to be in the movie she never quite manages to do anything except smile giddily.Rudy De Luca (a far cry from his work with Mel Brooks on Spaceballs) directs the movie like a TV show. It has a Disney Channel blandness to its photography and pacing. Were it not for the aforementioned work by Richards and Begley, Jr this movie would probably be a gargantuan task to sit through. But there is enough oddball humor sprinkled throughout to make it worth watching, though apparently much of the comedy was improvised by the actors, which leaves little credit for De Luca, who seems to be a much better collaborator than solo writer-director.
Liz Berry I think it's interesting that several people have mentioned ing this movie from childhood because that's where my recollection came as well. I'm glad I'm not the only one whose childhood included this movie since I was watching it thinking Geena Davis' costume alone makes it not for childish consumption, but it's sort of cartoonish in its sensibilities so maybe kids "got it" better.I hadn't thought about the movie in over 20 years, but something just made me put it in my Netflix queue -- I it being a movie I loved!! I have to say I'm disappointed... you would think a move so packed with famous names would be somehow better. I laughed 1-2x tops. My husband was browsing a joke website while I was watching this and I found myself paying attention to it instead of this.
Coventry "Transylvania 6-5000" is an insignificant but occasionally funny and charming mid 80's horror parody with some very familiar names in the cast and a handful of genuine opportunities to chuckle in the script. Two bozo journalist of a gossipy tabloid newspaper are sent, very much against their will, to Transylvania to do a story on the alleged return of mad scientist Frankenstein. There are some adorable little gimmicks and details to discover left and right in the film, like a little guillotine for hard-boiled eggs and laboratory test tubes that are being used to put in cream and sugar at the breakfast table. The wholesome of the film, however, is not as successful as it could and should have been, with jokes and parody situations that are way too overlong. The Roger Corman production "Transylvania Twist", which came out four years after this, is a lot funnier and much more recommended. The film is particularly parodying the classic Universal milestones of the early 30's, so you better make sure you've seen those if you want to grasp all the tiny gags and references. There's a pretty original twist indicating that the Frankenstein character only behaves like a mad-raving evil scientist when he enters his laboratory. It's also revealed that he's actually more of a Father Damien sort of messiah who's only concerned with the condition of exiled monsters. Michael Richards, the freaky guy who plays Kramer in Seinfeld, stars as a psychotic butler who appears and disappears at the most inappropriate moments. I'm pretty sure John Turturro's character in "Mr. Deeds" was inspired by Richards's role here.
Kenneth Johnson If you go into this movie with hopes of seeing another "Young Frankenstein", you will be disappointed. If you see it with the understanding that this was made with "have to use it in Yugoslavia" funding from Dow - and not a lot of funds, but the buck does stretch a bit further there - and if you like shtick, you'll probably not regret your time spent. Others have divulged the plot, so here's my take: despite the inexpensive production values and a great deal of on-location shooting, this film offers some funk "pokes" at the classic horror movie genre. Michael Richards' performance causes a few squirms here and there, but everyone else does a fine job: John Byner and Carol Kane are a hoot, as is Joseph Bologna's "split personality" role. Jeff Goldblum is so laid back, he seems to be on vacation and Ed Begley is......well, Ed Begley. The ending actually has some warmth and heart, and speaking of warm things, see this - if for no other reason - to ogle Geena Davis in her "Vampirella"-like outfit. WHOA!