Renfield Review

Directed By: Chris McKay
Written By: Ryan Ridley and Robert Kirkman
Runtime: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated R for bloody violence, some gore, language throughout, and some drug use

Nicholas Hoult – Robert Montague Renfield
Nicolas Cage – Count Dracula
Awkwafina – Rebecca Quincy
Benjamin Schwartz – Tedward Lobo
Shohreh Aghdashloo – Bellafrancesca Lobo
Camille Chen – Kate Quincy
Brandon Scott Jones – Mark
James Moses Black – Captain Browning

The irreverent horror-tinged comedy, Renfield has a few things going for it. The premise, cooked by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, presents Dracula’s servant, Robert Montague Renfield (Hoult), as a long-suffering familiar destined to eternal servitude to his malevolent master, Count Dracula (Cage). After spending over a century in Dracula’s employ, they take refuge in an abandoned hospital in New Orleans. While Dracula schemes for larger plans and more pure prey, Renfield seeks to finally break free of his master’s thrall and find his freedom from the evil Dracula.

It’s an amusing setup, and Hoult is well-cast for once as the meek, timid, and weasely Renfield. The poor, pitiful Renfield has done terrible things while serving his deranged count, but at least he knows it’s wrong and seeks freedom from Dracula’s control. Unfortunately, the task of resisting Dracula’s power as a familiar is easier said than done. Renfield attempts to seek advice by attending an addiction counseling group focusing on toxic relationships and people trying to get away from narcissistic significant others or bosses. He finally reaches a breakthrough when criminals from a drug cartel attempt to murder a police officer, Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina), at a nightclub. It’s worth mentioning that by eating bugs, Renfield gains superpowers and is capable of ripping people in half as a vampiric familiar so he helps Officer Quincy fend off the gangsters at the club and becomes smitten by her bravery. Unfortunately for Renfield, Dracula is gradually recovering his strength, and he won’t be too happy with Renfield’s attempt to break away from his thrall.

The main attraction of Renfield is, unsurprisingly, another wacky scene-chewing performance by Nicolas Cage as the legendary vampiric monster. Hoult and Cage make a first-rate duo and exhibit good chemistry with one another. However, the movie appears to hold back on this relationship in favor of beefing up the other characters and subplots. The movie’s B-plot involving Officer Quincy and her rivalry with the Lobo crime family, headed by the matriarch Bellafrancesca Lobo (Aghdashloo) and her nitwit son Tedward (Schwartz), undermines the overall premise. The crime family material serves as the glue to bring all the various subplots together. The problem is that the material involving the Lobo crime family is never as interesting when Dracula and Renfield are onscreen.

Awkwafina plays more of a straight woman role here, and she’s not so bad. Unfortunately, her relationship with Renfield is another typical non-romance that has become en-vogue in recent years. They seem to hint at, and build up, a romantic relationship between the two, but it never goes anywhere.

Visually, the movie has a dynamic adult graphic novel and comic book vibe. The New Orleans setting is impressive, and the supporting characters have some pulpy flair that appears to be the influences of Robert Kirkman and Skybound Entertainment at work.

While the action looks too frenetic, director Chris McKay does not skimp on blood, violence, and gore. The fight scenes and kills are executed in an over-the-top, comic-book style with explosions of blood, guts, entrails, organs, and intestinal waste. Blood and gore fiends will likely have fun with Renfield.

There are hints in the credits of Renfield being a far more intriguing and funnier movie. Some moments suggest copious material was left on the cutting room floor, including a song and dance musical number that’s teased but never actually shown. Renfield leaves an impression that focus groups could easily have ripped the film apart when the filmmakers’ creative instincts were more or less on point in the first place. At the very least, Renfield is short, fast-paced, amusing, and gory. It’s like watching a piece of B-movie grindhouse cinema with good production values and a decent budget.

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

The concept and setup are solid. Hoult and Cage's chemistry and scenes together are good, but the movie plays in a hacked-up manner, and superior material appears cut from the runtime. There are too many undercooked subplots that don't mix well with the Hoult and Cage dynamic. The best parts are the odes to B-Movie, grindhouse, and classic horror cinema. These include references to the classic 1931 Tod Browning Dracula film. Renfield is amusing, and Cage delivers an amusing performance as the legendary vampire. However, the experience is missing something and more could have been done with the premise especially when it's dragged down by the gangster subplot.