Eddie Murphy was the biggest movie star on the planet, and Wes Craven was the undisputed king of suburban nightmares. Then they made a horror-comedy together. It didn't go well. At least, not at first. When Vampire in Brooklyn hit theaters in 1995, critics basically treated it like a crime scene. They hated it. They didn't get why the guy from Beverly Hills Cop was trying to be Dracula, and they certainly didn't get why the guy who made A Nightmare on Elm Street was trying to be funny. But if you look at the film now, thirty years later, it’s a fascinating, messy, and surprisingly stylish relic of 90s cinema that deserves way more credit than it gets.
Maximillian is the last of his kind. He’s a Caribbean vampire who sails into a gritty, pre-gentrified New York harbor on a ghost ship filled with corpses. He’s looking for Rita Veder, played by Angela Bassett, who is a detective with a secret supernatural lineage. Honestly, Bassett is the glue that holds this whole thing together. She plays it completely straight, even when Murphy is doing high-concept character shifts or shape-shifting into a preacher to manipulate a congregation. It’s that weird tonal whiplash—one minute it's a slasher, the next it’s a sketch comedy—that makes the movie so polarizing.
The Identity Crisis of Vampire in Brooklyn
Wes Craven was in a weird spot in the mid-90s. He was just a year away from changing the genre forever with Scream, but he was still trying to find his footing in a Hollywood that wanted to pigeonhole him. On the other side, Eddie Murphy wanted to be a villain. He was tired of being the fast-talking hero. He wanted to be scary.
The problem? The audience wasn't ready.
When you watch the movie today, you can see the friction on screen. Murphy’s Maximillian is actually quite menacing when he wants to be. He’s got these long, curved fingernails and a cold, predatory stare that feels genuinely dangerous. But then, because it's an "Eddie Murphy Movie," he also plays two other characters: Preacher Pauly and Guido, an Italian mobster. These scenes feel like they belong in Coming to America, not a Wes Craven horror flick. It’s jarring. You’re watching a scene where a man’s heart is ripped out, and five minutes later, you’re watching a prosthetic-heavy comedy routine.
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Yet, there's something about that chaos that works. The Brooklyn depicted here isn't the hipster paradise of 2026. It’s dark, foggy, and gothic. Craven used his horror expertise to build an atmosphere that feels heavy and oppressive, which makes the jokes land with a thud—sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a "what was I just watching?" way.
Why the Critics Were Wrong About the Horror Elements
Critics like Roger Ebert gave the film a thumbs down, mostly because they felt it wasn't funny enough for a comedy and wasn't scary enough for a horror movie. But looking back, the special effects—handled by the legendary KNB EFX Group—are actually top-tier for the era. The transformation sequences and the gore are vintage Craven.
There’s a specific scene where Maximillian’s "ghoul" or servant, Julius (played by Kadeem Hardison), starts literally falling apart. His ear falls off. His hand comes loose. It’s gross-out humor done with practical effects that look better than half the CGI we see in modern streaming movies. Hardison is the unsung hero of the film. He provides the perspective of the "regular guy" caught in a supernatural nightmare, and his chemistry with Murphy’s stoic vampire is one of the few things that consistently works.
Angela Bassett Was Too Good for This Movie (And That's a Compliment)
It is wild to see Angela Bassett in this. This was post-What’s Love Got to Do with It, and she was at the height of her powers. She brings an emotional weight to Rita Veder that the script probably didn't even require. When she struggles with her burgeoning vampire side—the scene where she accidentally kills a bird or when her hair starts behaving with a life of its own—she’s acting like she’s in a high-stakes psychological drama.
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Because she takes it seriously, the stakes feel real. If she had winked at the camera or played it for laughs, the movie would have collapsed into a parody. Instead, her performance gives Vampire in Brooklyn a soul. You actually care if she gets corrupted by Maximillian.
The Legacy of a Box Office Flop
Let’s talk numbers, even though they’re depressing. The movie cost around $20 million to make and barely cleared that at the box office. It was considered a disaster. Paramount was disappointed, Murphy was frustrated, and Craven went back to the drawing board.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the bargain bin. The movie became a staple on cable TV and in video stores. It found an audience that appreciated its specific brand of "Black horror" long before that was a recognized subgenre. It’s a movie that occupies the same space as Tales from the Hood—it’s about the Black experience in the city, filtered through a lens of monsters and mayhem.
- The Soundtrack: The music is a perfect time capsule of mid-90s R&B and hip-hop culture, blending orchestral horror swells with street-level beats.
- The Fashion: Maximillian’s velvet coats and Rita’s leather jackets are iconic 90s noir.
- The Direction: Craven’s use of shadows in the Brooklyn brownstones creates a claustrophobic feel that modern horror often misses by using too much digital lighting.
It’s not a perfect movie. Not even close. The pacing is weird, and the ending feels a bit rushed. But it’s an ambitious failure, and those are always more interesting than safe, boring successes.
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What You Probably Didn't Know About the Production
The set wasn't all laughs. There was a tragic accident during filming where stuntwoman Sonja Davis lost her life during a high-fall stunt. This cast a dark shadow over the production, and many of the cast and crew have spoken about how the energy shifted after that. It adds a layer of real-world grimness to a film that was already struggling to find its tone.
Also, Murphy and Craven famously didn't see eye to eye. Murphy wanted to be a serious actor; Craven wanted more of the "Eddie" the world loved. The resulting film is the compromise between those two visions. It’s a tug-of-war captured on 35mm film.
How to Appreciate Vampire in Brooklyn Today
If you’re going to watch Vampire in Brooklyn now, you have to go in with the right mindset. Don't expect Scream. Don't expect The Nutty Professor. Expect a gothic romance that accidentally stumbled into a comedy club.
Look at the way Craven shoots the Brooklyn bridge. Look at the practical makeup on the vampires. Notice how Maximillian doesn't just want Rita; he wants her to choose him, which adds a layer of consent and agency that was actually pretty forward-thinking for a mid-90s villain.
It’s also worth noting that this was one of the few times we got to see a big-budget horror movie with a predominantly Black cast that wasn't just about "the hood." It was about ancient lineages, Caribbean folklore (specifically the "Nosferatu" tradition transposed onto a New York setting), and destiny.
Practical Next Steps for Fans of Cult Cinema:
- Watch the "Making Of" featurettes: If you can find the older DVD releases, the behind-the-scenes footage of the prosthetic work by KNB is a masterclass in 90s practical effects.
- Compare it to Blacula: To really understand the DNA of this movie, watch the 1972 classic Blacula. You can see where Murphy pulled his inspiration for the regal, tragic vampire figure.
- Double-feature it with Scream: Watching these two Wes Craven movies back-to-back is the best way to see how a director learns from a "failure" to create a masterpiece. Many of the camera movements and lighting choices in Vampire in Brooklyn were perfected a year later in Woodsboro.
- Track down the script: The original script by Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield (who worked with Murphy on SNL) had a much different balance of humor. Reading it reveals how much the tone shifted during filming.