Van Helsing doesn't need much convincing. He and Harker soon realize that they need to get Renfield (Peter MacNicol), the count's assistant, on side if they have any chance of putting a stake through Dracula's heart before he claims Mina's life. Weber and Yasbeck have proved twice over that they've got solid chemistry (Yasbeck played Casey Chapel, one of Brian Hackett's love interests in "Wings"), so Mina and Jonathan have a surprisingly good amount of rooting value. In spite of all the goofiness that surrounds them, you really want them to succeed, making this a surprisingly gripping vampire romp. It may not be the best spoof movie ever made, but it's certainly worth your time.
Stepping into the shoes of Jack Nicholson is no mean feat, but Steven Weber does his best to take Jack Torrance in a fresh direction in this miniseries adaptation of "The Shining." For some horror fans, nothing will ever be as good and Nicholson and Shelley Duvall sweating and shouting their way through their frozen marital breakdown. But, aided by Rebecca De Mornay as his Wendy, Weber is a credit to the source material here. The end result may not be a masterpiece, but it's certainly not worthy of the scorn it's sometimes subjected to -- quite the opposite, in fact.
As in both the book and the Stanley Kubrick film, Wendy and Jack take on the job of looking after a Rocky Mountains resort over the harsh and snowy winter months, taking their son Danny (Courtland Mead) with them. Jack -- a recovering alcoholic -- thinks that this will get him on the path of writing his long-delayed novel, but the spirits who haunt the place have something different planned. Will Danny's contact with the other side (the titular "Shining") be enough to save him and his mother before it's too late?
It's worth noting that the miniseries has a far cheerier ending. What's more, Stephen King approved of this adaptation, preferring it to the film (he famously wasn't overly keen on Kubrick's interpretation of his beloved novel). Fans can now judge for themselves, but it's hard to deny Weber's presence in the part. Incidentally, Weber calls another Stephen King-related project his crowning career achievement; an audiobook version of "It."