Studio: Universal
Release Date: 6/6/2023
Rating: R
Film Grade: C
The Story: R.M. Renfield (you can call him Bob) has been Dracula’s loyal assistant for about 100 years, nursing him back to health after attacks by vampire hunters, finding new accommodations, and bringing him victims as needed. But what about his own needs? He’s so busy selflessly devoting his life to serving his master that he begins to feel neglected and used. So, he does what anyone in his situation would do, he joins a support group for those in toxic relationships.
It's not long before he begins to sympathize with the other attendees, and figures what better food source for Dracula than their abusers. This leads to run-ins with a local drug gang and the police, while Bob tries to figure out where his life is going, and his master contemplates a new future.
My Take: Like Cocaine Bear, this movie tries to create a balance between horror, action, and comedy, and isn’t particularly successful with any of them.
Unevenly directed by Chris McKay (The Lego Batman Movie and The Tomorrow War), Renfield features small bites that might appeal to the classic horror audience (including some modified scenes from the 1931 version), lines that are repeated from the movies, and Rebecca Quincy’s name would appear to be a nod to one of Stoker’s protagonists - Quincey Morris. There is clearly some love for the original material here.
The problem is that the movie tries to do too much and too little at the same time.
Nicholas Hoult doesn’t feel like the right actor for the role and plays him as timid and reluctant, largely skipping past the unbalanced and unhinged aspects of the character, in what looks like a way to make him sympathetic to the audience. He’s fine in thinking-man roles, but that’s not what the character is, or should be, about.
On the other hand, Nicolas Cage hams it up as Dracula in what amounts to a supporting role. Even though his part is smaller, and not played completely straight, he easily dominates the scenes he’s in, and his frenetic attacks are different that most other portrayals of Dracula we’ve seen before.
Then throw in a miscast Awkwafina, playing the familiar role of a cop trying to live up to her dead father’s fame, and there isn’t enough room in its relatively short 93-minute runtime for any of them to breathe or shine. Instead, they feel more like simple props for the plot.
There are some laugh-out-loud moments, but much of the comedy that misses comes from predictable swipes at overly familiar and obvious tropes. Not as slapstick as, say, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, and not as unconventionally sly as the Lego movies, the goofy elements end up dulling the edges of the horror elements. The film could have gone in the direction of a very dark comedy with some restraint by Cage and the dumping of extraneous plot elements but chose the more mainstream and simpler path.
There is a ton of gore in this movie, resulting from some action scenes that would give the John Wick movies a run for their money, with gallons of more blood. Like other elements of the movie, some of that action is of the silly variety, not realistic in any way, enhancing the comedy element at the cost of any sense of fear or dread.
Video: The film features an interesting mixture of palettes, from bright colors to soft pastels, warm interiors, and dark lairs. Action is never lost in murkiness, and the movie does a good job of creating atmosphere, showing off some nice set designs. There are a few brightly-lit scenes where the picture is washed out, though. Not enough to harm the story, but easily noticeable and distracting.
Audio: You’ll need to get the digital copy to experience the Atmos version, as the Blu-ray only comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix. That said, the soundtrack features some nice object placement and good panning effects. Sub owners will be rewarded in a few scenes that feature gun play, some music punctuated with bass, and a couple of punchy bass effects that enhance displays of supernatural powers. There are some moments where Cage’s dialog is hard to decipher, but that could be attributed to the combination of his normal mumbling and fangs.
Special Features: • Hilarious (their words, not mine) Deleted and Extended Scenes
• Alternate Takes
• Dracula UnCaged
• Monsters & Men: Behind the Scenes of RENFIELD
• Stages of Rejuvenation
• Flesh & Blood
• Fighting
• The Making of a Deleted Scene: Renfield’s Dance!
• Feature Commentary with Producer Samantha Nisenboim, Screenwriter Ryan Ridley, and Crew
Final Verdict: Renfield was marketed as Nic Cage as Dracula, and while he’s in the movie, it’s very much about the title character. This will likely leave Cage fans feeling a bit slighted.
That leaves one wondering who the movie was made for. There’s not much meat for horror fans; scares are scarce to nil. It doesn’t work as a straight comedy, there’s a good amount of action, but not enough of a story to build it around.
Mildly recommended as a rental for vampire or Cage fans, but don’t go into it with high expectations.
Fun Fact: Hoult ate real bugs during the filming of the movie, with salt and vinegar crickets being his favorites.
My Review System:JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup
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