Reception
Vampire in Brooklyn was released to coincide with the Halloween season, and did moderately well at the box office, breaking even with its $14 million budget. However, it received mostly negative reviews from critics, and is considered a lesser film of both Murphy and Craven (Craven would move on to begin the hugely successful Scream franchise, while Murphy would concentrate on more family-friendly movies such as his remake of The Nutty Professor). The film maintains a 10% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus: "Neither scary nor very funny, this misguided effort never lives up to its premise."
In the retrospective book Wes Craven: The Art of Horror, the author, John Kenneth Muir said "Given the fact that A Vampire in Brooklyn is an entry in an over-exposed horror genre (the vampire film) and an uneasy mix of humor and horror, it is amazing that it is successful at all. The chemistry between Bassett and Murphy is strong, Kadeem Harison and John Witherspoon are adept at comedy, the special effect sequences and transformations are startling, and the overall 1930s'-'40s mood is charming." He also praised J. Peter Robinson's musical score, calling it "delightful".
During an interview with Rolling Stone, Eddie Murphy gave a reason Vampire in Brooklyn was a failure. "The only way I was able to do Nutty Professor and to get out of my Paramount deal, I had to do Vampire in Brooklyn. But you know what ruined that movie? The wig. I walked out in that longhaired wig and people said, 'Oh, get the fuck out of here! What the hell is this?'"
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