Transylvania 6-5000 DVD

Cafe Society
1

I just bought Transylvania 6-5000 on DVD. Why? Partly for Geena Davis in the vampire outfit, of course! :smiley: Also because I have a tendency to do Michael Richards’ “Smell this. Is good, yes?” schtick. And Carole Kane’s cute pseudo-hunchback character. She reminds me of my first g/f. (Although 1g/f wasn’t a hunchback.)

The film itself was not “great”, but it has done well as a “cult” film. It was marginally successful when it released theatrically. It cost about $3 million and made something like $20 million. It does have a lot of funny stuff in it. But I always thought it could have been better.

A couple of things struck me about the DVD. First, there are no subtitles. I like to have subs on occasion when I miss a line. This is one of the few DVDs I’ve seen that doesn’t have them.

The other thing was the director’s commentary. The film was shot in Yugoslavia (even the part in the beginning that took place in the U.S.). The director was constantly bemoaning the fact that he was unable to do what he wanted to do. For example, he wanted to shoot many of the scenes at night; but couldn’t because he couldn’t get permission from the Communist government. He also complained that the producer was insisting that the film be kept on schedule. This meant that he was not allowed to set up shots the way he wanted to. Near the end of the filming the producer took away his video monitor, apparently thinking that would speed things up. The producer tried not to let the visual consultant talk to the director, because they would discuss setups and shots and try to make a good movie. Basically, the director wanted to “fulfill his directorial vision” and make a good film. The producer wanted to just shoot the thing in a certain number of days so he could get his bonus.

Transylvania 6-5000 could have been a really great '80s comedy were it not for the constraints placed on the first-time director. Instead it turned out to be a so-so comedy that few people remember. Still, it has its charms.

2

What I remember most about this movie is Leonard Maltin’s one-word review on Entertainment Tonight.

3

Which was?

4

I didn’t see it, but I heard about it on the SDMB:
Maltin stands there, with Glenn Miller’s (SIGH!) Pennsylvania 6-5000 playing in the background. At the very end of the song, when Miller and bandmates shout out, “Pennsylvania 6-5-oh oh oh!” Maltin sings along saying, “Transylvania 6-5000” STINKS!!!

Or something like that.

5

Yes, the whole review consisted of Maltin swaying in time with the music, then “Transylvania 6-5000 STINKS! Leonard Maltin, Entertainment Tonight”.

That isn’t even his shortest review. His commentary on Isn’t It Romantic? (1948) was “No.”

6

I liked that movie. It was campy, and corny but still much better than I thought it would be, when SO dragged me to the theatre to see it.

7

I seem to recall having a major laughing fit over something in that movie…perhaps involving an ashtray? It might have had to do with with the “Smell this” shtick…sounds familiar. Did that involve an ashtray, and a little bit of barely contained cracking up on the part of Jeff Goldblum?

8

Yeah, one of the items “Fejos” puts under “Gil”'s nose is an ash tray. “Is gooood, yes?”

I also like the first time we see Fejos and he slapping around a bearded doll. (Waiting for it…)

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The bit I didn’t like was how they kept referring to Frankenstein’s Monster as “A Frankenstein”. Perpetuating a misnomer.

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Yeah, don’t you just hate it when comedies shirk their moral obligations and don’t take things seriously enough?

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Not necessarily. The movie was funded by Dow Chemical in order to drain some excess money which couldn’t be transferred out of the country. It would make sense that Dow would also have a deadline to spend the money.