Review: Renfield

Director: Chris McKay

Guion: Ryan Ridley, Rober Kirkman, and Ava Tramer

Also: 2023

Nicholas Cage playing Dracula. What other reason do you need to watch this movie?

Renfield is tired of his life as Dracula's servant and seeks a life away from his master. However, after decades of servitude, Renfield has developed a codependent relationship with Dracula that won't be easy to escape. To make matters worse, his master disagrees with his position and is willing to shed as much blood as necessary to preserve his servant.

Let's not try to cover the sky with a cape; the main point of interest of "Renfield" is the great performance of Nicholas Cage as Count Dracula, which was even the point of focus in the film's promotional campaign. Not only Nicholas Cage (“Color Out of Space”, “Mandy”) but Nicholas Hoult (“Mad Max: Fury Road”) and the rest of the cast do a great job of creating fun characters in keeping with the plot. Ironically, it is in the characters where it also has its weak point since some of them (one of them important) feel out of tune, unnecessary, and even difficult to tolerate.

After looking for a long time to revive the world of Universal's monsters in the modern world and showing a promising effort with films like "The Invisible Man", "Renfield" seems to be the company's new great success. However, this time they opt for the absurd comedy and horror route instead of a serious and less fanciful tone as in “The Invisible Man”. In both films, they were absolutely right with the style they chose, and in "Renfield", they abide by it to the point that the whole film revolves around it.

From the beginning, the director Chris McKay sets a funny, over-the-top tone that remains for the rest of its 93-minute runtime. The comedy is silly but well-worked, and the gore is extreme and absurd to the point of being funny. The excellent makeup plays a big part in how good the gore and some grotesque visuals look, and they serve to complement the way in which Cage owns this mythical character and makes it his own without losing its essence.

“Renfield” is amazing thanks to its absurd comedy and gore and incredible performances. The story seeks to pay homage to the classic Dracula stories but gives it a genuine and modern feel that suits its fun tone very well. Its only problems are some characters that seem to be in the wrong movie and some plot holes that don't affect your enjoyment much.