Renfield (2023)

Rating: 7.2

TL;DR - Renfield misses the mark in a number of ways, but it is at the very least mildly entertaining. A lot of it felt forced and like it was re-constructed in an editing room, and there was an unfortunate lack of chemistry between the cast. Cage was great, but under-utilized as Dracula. In a world where we have What We Do in the Shadows… Renfield feels like a bland attempt to re-create that magic.

---

Film Info:

Premise: Renfield, Dracula's henchman and inmate at the lunatic asylum for decades, longs for a life away from the Count, his various demands, and all of the bloodshed that comes with them.

•

Universal

Directed by Chris McKay

Screenplay by Ryan Ridley

Based on an original idea by Robert Kirkman

Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez, Shohreh Aghdashloo

Runtime: 1hr 33min

Rating: 14A

Comedy, Fantasy, Horror

•

IMDb Rating: 6.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 60%

RT Audience Score: 80%

RT Critic Average: 5.9/10

RT Audience Average: 4/5

Metacritic Score: 54

CinemaScore: B-

Letterboxd: 3.2/5

•

Fun Fact: Even with a long history of turning down big movies if doesn't center on his character, Nicolas Cage agreed to play Dracula as it was a life long dream for him and he loved the comedy parts in the script.

---

Review:

written by Tyler Park

Universal has been on quite the streak recently, releasing a lot of lower-budget, niche movies that double down on their silly premise. From Violent Night to M3GAN, to Cocaine Bear, this strategy has so far mostly paid off for Universal. Renfield, however, is where the streak of success ends — at least for me.

Renfield is a bit of a misstep. Not necessarily in its conception — this could have very well made for quite the fun movie — but more so in its execution. A dark comedy about Renfield seeking therapy and emancipation from Dracula is quite a clever premise. But having this lead to him being a superhero fighting bad guys (in a slightly gorier fashion) is contrived and desperate. I'm shocked at how Renfield forgot the lessons of the Dark Universe's failure and unlearned the lessons of The Invisible Man, again taking a Universal Monsters branded character and refashioning them into a generic superhero. It really is upsetting to see them fail a character as iconic as Dracula in this day and age, as I could really go for a great full-horror Dracula movie right about now. But frankly, I think the best we will ever get of this character comes from the original 1931 Dracula film.

One of the things I did like in this film is that it did pay homage to the iconic original version, and I really loved how Nicolas Cage really fit the role, even looking identical to Bela Lugosi’s Dracula in some shots. The makeup they did on him was really good, and Cage really ate up the role — he just deserved to be in a better film. I quite enjoyed seeing his take on the character, however, he was severely under-utilized. This would be okay had the other lead actors been able to carry the film, but unfortunately none of them really lived up to their potential. Nicholas Hoult, as much as I like him as an actor, can’t command the screen. He just isn’t a lead. And he had absolutely zero chemistry with Awkwafina, making their character’s interactions feel especially forced. Actually, most of the movie felt forced, from dramatic beats to attempted comedic moments — a majority of which fell flat. Focusing on the comedy side of things, I really didn’t think any of it worked. The movie just felt like it was trying so hard to be funny, from adding in a very inconsistent Deadpool-like narration from Renfield to maximizing silliness in a blatant attempt to capture the magic of What We Do in the Shadows (the movie or the series). But Chris McKay is not Taika Waititi. Sure, The LEGO Batman Movie (his initial directorial effort) may have been fun, but I don’t think his style worked so well for this material, and his direction was imbalanced here. You can see this movie must have been even more of a mess at some point in production, as so much of it feels like it was re-constructed in an editing room. Nothing flows together well, sequences felt jarring at times; the individual elements of the film just never really gelled together. It really seemed like the movie had been ripped apart and put back together in different ways multiple times until they got to this version of it. Plus, so much of the dialogue was very noticeably re-recorded. ADR must’ve been this film’s best friend, as there were many instances where dialogue was clearly added in after the fact, some even awkwardly placed in scenes. It was not integrated well at all.

But, as silly as it was, the movie was still fun at times. While the first half really was a slog and had me questioning every decision the movie made, the second half did manage to deliver some fun stuff. It was extra-gory and had lots of blood for absolutely no reason, but any scene with Cage worked pretty well. When it leaned into the campy action, it worked, but when it tried to be either very melodramatic or comedic, the film imploded on itself. The film is super imbalanced and overall really flawed but still manages to be a better movie than Morbius. In a world where we have What We Do in the Shadows, a far superior (and way more hilarious) horror-comedy about modern-day vampires, I don’t see any reason to watch Renfield.

If I haven’t made myself clear….

Renfield = fine.

What We Do in the Shadows = Go watch it immediately. You’ll thank me… Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement will have you dying of laughter!

---

Trailer: