Renfield Movie Review

One of the greatest movie monsters of all time, is the OG vampire, Count Dracula himself, has appeared in many films and television shows for the best part of 100 years, from 1922s Nosferatu to 2023s Dracula: Voyage of The Demeter and Renfield. He has been brought to life by a number of talented performers over the years, including Bela Lugosi (the original Dracula), Sir. Christopher Lee (the Hammer Dracula films), Gary Oldman (my personal favourite in Bram Stoker’s Dracula), Australian Richard Roxburgh (Van Helsing), Gerard Butler (Dracula 2000), Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (Dracula TV series), Luke Evans (Dracula: Untold) and the great Nicolas Cage from 2023s Renfield.

Renfield is a new interpretation of the classic source material, with the film told from Dracula’s assistant Renfield rather than the prince of Darkness himself. The film delves more into the comedic nature of this perspective shift, with Nicholas Hoult playing the title character of Renfield, re-teaming with Nicolas Cage (appeared as father and son in 2005s The Weather Man), who plays Dracula himself. As a massive fan of Nicolas Cage and the story of Count Dracula, I was very excited for this take on the source material, with a real 1990s feel to the way the film was presented, in a good way.

Renfield represents an exciting shift in Dracula adaptations, we have seen so many that are the straight forward adaptation of the material with a gothic feel. This film delves into the weird and has fun with its absurd premise. The tone as mentioned is far more tongue-in-cheek and light hearted than anything we have seen before. It never sacrifices the gore and the action, but it still manages to maintain a fun tone throughout. The blending of genres here is a huge reason as to why the film works as well as it does. It’s a testament to director Chris McKay’s ability to blend the two genres, showcasing his sensibilities as a filmmaker and clear admiration for the character of Dracula and 1990s cinema. He expands upon his previous films here, which include ‘The Lego Batman Movie’ and ‘The Tomorrow War’.

The real strengths here lie in the film's talented cast. Nicholas Hoult is fantastic as Renfield, adding to his impressive resume of recent years which includes films such as The favourite, The Menu, The Great and The Banker (funnily enough they all have ‘The’ in the title). His ability to balance the absurdity of the plot, whilst conveying real emotion is something he has done so well in his foray into the horror genre. His character is written in a way where we can really get a sense of the history with the character. We can see that he is hundreds of years old and has been serving Dracula for a number of years now, protecting him from the outside world. This history makes it easier to connect to the character, especially when he throws in the towel and says, “you know what I am actually done being the servant of Dracula”. In a way, it’s an empowerment movie about standing up to your boss. His relationship as well with Awkwafina as Rebecca is really sweet and well developed. The two of them make for a fun and cute on-screen pairing.

The real highlight here though, is of course Nicolas Cage as Count Dracula himself. He is wonderful as the character, bringing his own take on the role, letting his ‘Cage flare’ take full command of the screen whenever he is on it. He gives a truly evil and at times terrifying performance as the character, whilst also showing his vulnerability as the character, especially in the middle portion where he is recovering. Again, the history of the character adds to the overall stakes of the film, making the film feel larger than it actually is.

Renfield is a must watch for Dracula fans and those wanting a throwback to 1990s cinema. The blood and gore are excessive but add to the overall enjoyment of the film and the over-the-top performance from Nicolas Cage is a massive reason why the film works. The buddy-cop elements with Rebecca and Renfield are also strengths of the film. Pick up your copy on DVD and Blu-Ray from Sanity, and sign-up so you don’t miss out on the latest pre-orders, including ‘Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter’ which arrives on DVD and Blu-ray this November!

Long live physical media!

---

Buy Renfield on DVD or Blu-ray here

Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here