Renfield succeeds when it sticks to the Dracula/Renfield story-line.
It’s another year and we get another cinematic incarnation of Count Dracula. This time around Nicolas Cage dons the cape and fangs. But, as you might have noticed from the title of the movie, Renfield is not focused solely on the Prince of Darkness. Nor is it merely seeking out scares.
Nicholas Hoult (The Menu) plays Dracula’s “familiar,” charged with bringing him fresh victims and tending to his needs. Being Dracula’s right-hand man has its perks. Renfield gains super-strength when he consumes insects and, despite being over 70 years old, he still looks like he’s in his twenties. Both are the result of Dracula’s healing blood. But after doing Dracula’s bidding for decades, Renfield seeks counseling from a therapy group. He feels that he’s trapped in a co-dependent and toxic relationship with his boss.
As Renfield gains more confidence in himself and starts to pull away from Dracula’s bindings, he encounters Officer Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina.) Renfield and Quincy both have a running conflict with the Lobos, an organized crime family. More specifically, they both have an issue with Teddy Lobo (Ben Schwartz.) Renfield saves Quincy’s life when Teddy attempts to kill her; which further convinces Renfield that he should be doing good instead of evil.
Renfield succeeds when it sticks to the Dracula/Renfield story-line. Cage and Hoult are both excellent in their respective roles. Cage, of course, excels at the over-the-top characterization of Bram Stoker’s legendary vampire. Hoult convincingly plays the reluctant accomplice. As the film opens, recreations of scenes from 1931’s Dracula — with Cage and Hoult digitally replacing Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye — establish the characters’ relationship. It’s nice touch and a nod to fans of classic horror films.
Unfortunately, the script strays from what works and spends too much time trying to establish a pseudo-romantic relationship between Renfield and Officer Quincy. The organized crime subplot provides plenty of opportunities for Renfield to display his bug-induced strength in gory fashion. But, ultimately, it gives the film a generic action movie feel that drags down the more interesting main story.
That said, the elements that work do so well enough to still warrant a recommendation. Renfield’s sessions in group therapy elicit genuine laughs. It’s too bad that the movie’s trailers largely spoiled those scenes ahead of the film’s release. Thankfully, most of Cage’s scenes as Dracula were not and they make the film worth a look.
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
