If those who would most enjoy Renfield go into it with low expectations, they’ll find an imperfect film that (mostly) caters to their tastes. This movie has such a great premise and such a good cast. If only the screenplay and story were better. I liked it more than I didn’t but while watching, I kept wondering “I should love this… why don’t I?”
Like in the novel by Bram Stoker, R. M. Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) is transformed into Dracula’s familiar when he meets the Count (Nicholas Cage) in the early 20th century. Unlike in the novel, Dracula and Renfield survive and defeat Van Helsing, along with every subsequent would-be vampire slayer they encounter. In modern day, Renfield has grown tired of the abuse Dracula throws his way. While searching for fresh victims for his master, Renfield crosses paths with Teddy Lobo (Ben Schwartz), the son of the notoritious Lobo crime family. The bloody aftermath catches the attention of police officer Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina), who holds a grudge against the Lobos and is looking for an ally against them.
Even without doing any research, I could’ve told you from his performance alone, that Nicolas Cage is a massive fan of 1931’s Dracula. It’s pretty clear Robert Kirkman (who pitched the story but did not write the screenplay) and director Chris McKay are too. The film begins by showing us new versions of the most well-known scenes from the 1931 film, with the sets either recreated with immaculate attention to detail or the new actors digitally added in. For anyone who loves the Universal Monsters, it’s a delight to see new performers re-interpret the material. Remember the first time you saw the Spanish version of “Dracula”? It’s that exciting. Cage, in particular, is such a good fill-in for Bela Lugosi. Hoult doesn’t quite look like Dwight Frye and may not bring the same intensity to the role, but he turns out to be a wholly different kind of servant to this prince of darkness anyway, so it won’t bother you at all.
After the dynamite intro, we dig into the story. It’s a fun idea to show Renfield, now 90 years into his servitude, getting fed up with his situation. There are some good laughs as Dracula physically and emotionally abuses Renfield while he slowly builds the courage he needs to face this vampire he could never hope to defeat on his own. This Count doesn’t insta-die when exposed to sunlight, is super strong, immortal, able to fly, can transform into a swarm of bats, hypnotize people, turn into mist and recover from practically any injury given enough time and blood.
The problem with Renfield is that we don’t explore the vampire-familiar dynamic enough. The Lobos and Officer Quincy plot, with Renfield stuck in the middle, eats up about 60% of the film. While the scenes of Quincy and Renfield teaming up against a bunch of Lobos goons means there’s plenty of comedic gore, that's not what you came to see. Then, when we finally get back to Dracula, he announces he’s going to take over the world! With Renfield gaining superhuman strength and agility whenever he eats bugs, this horror-comedy (and I use the word horror in theory here, as none of this picture is even remotely frightening) starts to feel an awful lot like a superhero film. A superhero film that isn’t taking itself seriously but come on. I came here for a vampire movie with a fun anti-romance twist. Give me that!
Since I mentioned the gore, I want to praise the special effects. There are many shots of people get their arms torn off or getting ripped apart, gutted or dispatched in other hideous ways. In any other movie, you might ask “wait, how did they even manage to stand upright if they were that easy to turn to shreds?”. Here, it’s all part of the fun. The most impressive SFX are in the scenes showing Dracula in various states of injury. Be it a scorched skeleton that can talk or a gooey blood sucker with half his skull showing and all sorts of bits barely hanging on, it’s all mega gross and well done. I’m pretty sure most actors hate having to sit in chairs while tons of makeup are applied to them, but I’d wager that after seeing the results, Cage was like “oh yeah, I’m totally willing to do with 4-5 more times.”
In the end, I’m going to rate Renfield right down the middle. More than once, I was loving it. I felt like this movie had been made specifically for me. Far too often, however, it let me down. I know it probably doesn’t make any sense, but it’s a disappointment that I’m nonetheless glad I saw and have some affection for. (September 10, 2023)
