Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)

In the first place, you've got to have a sense of humor to like this film. Second, you need to be a die hard Eddie Murphy fan as well.

I disagree with those that say "VampireÂ…" just portrays racial stereotypes. Yes, Kadeem Hardison and John Witherspoon are stereotypical "black low lifes", but so what? Angela Bassett and Allen Payne are just as stereotypical in their portrayals of honest, middle class blacks who work hard for a living. Not all Italians are Mafiosos, but by their own admission, all Mafiosos must be of Italian or Sicilian ancestry; their rules.

How many times have you seen what appeared to be a "different" slant to the Dracula theme only to walk out of the theater feeling it was deja vous all over again? This film very sarcastically juxtaposes this timeless story onto the waterfront of Brooklyn and invades the seamy life of a small time bookie and his chiseling uncle. Somehow I don't think the film would have been quite as funny if it had been about yuppies in Connecticut (for that kind of supernatural thriller, see Wolf, with Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pheiffer).

Eddie Murphy obviously doesn't see his various characters in this film, its plot, nor other supporting characters as racist. Racy yes; Racist, no. And if you go to an Eddie Murphy movie you need to expect raw language. After all, he's Gumby, d*** it!

Fmovies: I don't get the low rating for this film. The make up was great and Eddie played a few cool characters. Worth a watch if you like Eddie Murphy and vampires lol

Contrary to IMDb grade of this movie and the many reviewers who appraised it as a low to mediocre movie piece i have only the highest praise for this movie.

This is not a comedy but this is also not a horror movie.It is a mix of drama,horror and comedy.

Eddie Murphys performance as a vampire was amazing and the special effects were awesome.

This movie is definitely a classic and quite sure it is misunderstood by most.

One of the best vampire movies ever made.

10 out of 10 Keep this treasure alive!

Vampire in Brooklyn fmovies. i read through some of the negative reviews, and felt I had to add one for the positives. I am a fan of Eddie Murphy, and have noticed that many of his films have pretty poor ratings here on IMDB, including this one, which has a shockingly low rating.

I thought the film had very funny moments, and Murphy had a good rapport with his Ghoul. Also, the plotline was pretty interesting. I thought it worked very well, and I hope that the IMDB rating will improve.

The only person who can give a fair commentary on this film would be a vampire lover, such as myself. As much as I love to laugh and adore Eddie Murphy's comedic talent, the genre of Vampires is my ultimate favourite topic. Some may say that I'm even slightly obsessed... So when it comes to this film I will say that I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it was a touch cheesy and yes it was funny, but why can't a vampire film make you laugh too? I approached this film with a lot of reservation because I really didn't think Eddie Murphy was vampire material. But Eddie pulled it off. Yes- I feel that he truly did. He had that hypnotic stare and seductive movement that would've paralyzed me too if I was in his presence then too. So I give this movie the thumbs up and not just for vampire lovers and not just for Eddie Murphy fans- this is quite an entertaining film.

In the 1980s, Eddie Murphy single-handedly recreated the Black Action hero, replacing the old murderous superstud of the 1970s with black characters who depended on their quick wits more than their big guns. That formula was quickly run dry, however, both by Murphy himself and the imitators he inspired.

So, Eddie intelligently decided that he needed to recreate a forgotten genre of comedy, one which Peter Sellars had mastered in the 60s, and which only Murphy could do today: he would make movies in which he played multiple characters. The Genesis began with "Coming to America", in which Murphy played not only the lead role, but also all the inhabitants of a Harlem barbershop. The sequences were short, but Murphy was building the road to becoming the most brilliant character actor of our day. Soon followed the "Nutty Professor" movies, "Bowfinger", and his animated TV series, "The PJ's." In all these Murphy played a multiplicity of roles, and played them all brilliantly (the Academy's disdain for streetwise comedies, and--well, lets just say it--their dismissal of black performers not playing slaves or pimps, are the only explanations possible for Murphy not owning an Oscar or two by now).

With these projects, Eddie was not only playing different characters, but also honing a new Eddie Murphy genre: raunchy, but intelligent; gross, but heartfelt; hilariously over the top in the particulars of plot, but firmly rooted in emotional reality. He has created or has been involved with, some of the arguably best comedies of the 1990's and onward--and has been responsible for inarguably the best comic performances of the era.

So, in this era, Eddie decided to push the envelope by mixing the new Eddie Genre with the Horror films he loved as a kid. The result, "A Vampire in Brooklyn", is unsettling to some because the lines between Eddie's wildly improvisational Black (or African American, if you insist) character comedy to straight vampire horror movie are so starkly drawn. There are very few instances where the comedy and horror overlap. This, I feel, is the brilliance of the film. There are no horror moments broken by a punchline or bad joke, and there are no comedy moments punctuated by some kind of sick horror gag (that has been done to death since John Landis' "American Werewolf in London". Now its being beated to death by "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"). The funny parts are funny and the scary parts are truly scary.

And Murphy also gets to shine in multiple well-defined character parts as well, as the shape-shifting African Vampire assumes the physical identity of several of his victims.

"Vampire" failed at the box office not because it was a bad film--its definitely is not. But because it was too unusual a film for the limited abilities of the studio's marketing department to sell. Those going expecting to see a comedy were disappointed it contained so much pure horror, and those going to see it based on the publicity that painted it as a horror film were dissapointed it contained so much hilarious Murphy style comedy.

It dies because of false expectations. Eddie's other films contained quick changes in tone as well--the shifts between bathroom comedy and pathos in the Nutty Professor films is no less abrupt than those between horror and comedy in "Vampire".

It's just that the choice of horror as the second element mixed with the comedy is a more daring and un