Renfield: Film Review
When I saw the first trailer for Renfield, I couldn’t predict whether it was going to be awesome or totally pants. I was wrong either way – it falls somewhere in the middle.
Chris McKay‘s film stars Nicholas Hoult as RM Renfield, the long-suffering servant of Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage). He is fed up with killing people for his master and his life of servitude and wants to end Dracula’s reign over him. Obviously, Dracula isn’t keen to let his slave go quite so easily.
On one of his quests to find a human to kill, Renfield inadvertently encounters Teddy Lobo (Ben Schwartz), heir of the Lobo crime family. The Lobos, led by matriarch Ella (Shohreh Aghdashloo), run New Orleans and have the police in their pocket – except for cop Rebecca (Awkwafina), who vows to bring them to justice. She finds an unlikely ally in Renfield and together they try to bring a stop to Dracula and the Lobos.
I must admit, this horror comedy was gorier than I expected! It was a savage bloodbath that made me audibly gasp a few times as limbs were torn/chopped off and heads were stomped on (for example). It’s definitely not one for the squeamish. The film is also more action-packed than I realised. Renfield eats bugs to receive superhero powers, erm, some of Dracula’s power, so he can seriously kick ass. And he is often stronger than he realises – hence the violence.
The film works best as a comedy and Ryan Ridley‘s script is hilarious. The jokes don’t work 100% of the time but I really enjoyed Renfield’s voiceovers, the scenes in the support group and the conversation about ska music!
The problem is the movie tries to be too many things all at once – horror, comedy, action, romance and crime – and it made me think of the famous quote: “Jack of all trades, master of none.” By taking on so much, it loses focus and feels rushed and all over the place, particularly near the end. The crime family was given far too much screentime and their storyline could have been pared right back.
The huge draw of Renfield is seeing Cage as Dracula and he does not disappoint. He is everything I expected him to be and more. The performance is big, it’s camp and it’s very entertaining. I can’t think of any current working actor better suited to this style of Dracula. The costume designers and make-up artists also deserve heaps of praise for his look.
Hoult does well to hold his own alongside such a scene-stealing performance from Cage. It is his film after all! It was interesting to see Schwartz (who I know best as the voice of Sonic) playing against type as a tattooed drug lord and I really liked Brandon Scott Jones as Mark, the support group leader.
Renfield is a fun, blood-splattered film with buckets of action, violence and jokes. More Cage as Dracula, please!
In cinemas from Friday 14th April