Renfield (2023)
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Renfield Movie Review
Renfield is a 2023 horror comedy film directed by Chris McKay and starring Nicolas Cage, Nicholas Hoult and Awkwafina. It’s a solid, fun genre flick.
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“It’s the real fucking Dracula!“
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Renfield, the tortured aide to his narcissistic boss, Dracula, is forced to procure his master’s prey and do his every bidding. However, after centuries of servitude, he’s ready to go on his own and he turns against his previous master. This was a typically postmodern story that featured overly contemporary scenes and references with the group therapy ones being too on-the-nose, though entertaining to a degree.
I actually liked this movie for what it is, which is a fun genre flick that is not to be taken seriously. It’s silly, but its goofiness and campiness were its biggest strengths. The movie was so original in its mixture of genres and tones that it was at least never dull, though the horror elements needed to have been more pronounced. But at least the humor is pretty solid and the film did admittedly make me chuckle more than a couple of times due to its silly nature.
My main issue with Renfield is the overemphasis on action scenes. In what was a typical move for the Universal horror features of recent years, they decided to make it more an action than a horror flick, which did not sit well with me. The action was a mixture between ‘Kingsman’ and ‘John Wick’ with a splash of Tarantino in pools of blood present, so it did have its fun moments, but still it was too much as a couple of scenes went on for way too long.
Renfield is also overly focused on crime/gangster elements, especially in the second half. Admittedly, I really liked the characters played by Shohreh Aghdashloo and Ben Schwartz, but still I would have cut this entire subplot myself. As for Awkwafina, she is definitely not as humorous as she mostly is in this project, but at least she was very likable and her dynamic with Hoult was great.
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Nicholas Hoult himself was perfectly cast in the titular role. I disliked the extensive narration on his part, but the character really worked and was both likable and fun as our antihero of sorts. Nicolas Cage was as always for him ridiculous and over-the-top, but at least he fitted this particular role like a glove and he was suitably goofy while also being menacing. The final fight between the two was excellent. I also liked the stylish look to the picture and how well executed the action was, but otherwise it’s not as cinematic as you’d hope for.
Renfield is a surprisingly solid, underrated genre flick that mostly works. Yes, it has that typical problem of modern Universal horror movies relying too much on action and crime instead of horror elements in its script, but at least the humor is quite good and the characters are excellent. Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage were both perfectly cast in their well written and highly memorable roles. It’s a messy movie, but it was reasonably diverting and solidly funny in its immense goofiness and campiness.
My Rating – 3.5
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