Renfield

Director McKay seems to understand that special balance between terror and camp, and it’s that which makes Renfield, which premiered this week at the Overlook Film Festival, such a delight to watch.

Though Nicholas Hoult is charming as he struggles to find inner strength, Renfield lives or dies by Nic Cage camping it up. And he delivers.

A mixed bag of elements, Renfield resonates with eclectic vibes. There was a potential for a huge hit here, but there’s just occasional intrigue and leisure that relaxes the audience to a considerable extent without coming close to greatness.

The trouble with Renfield, though, is the fact that it’s called Renfield and not Dracula. Snivelling when not stiff, the title character is a bore, as is Hoult’s shoulder-shrug of a performance.

It’s bouncy, clever, amiable, and idiosyncratic, but its virtues seem inseparable from its over-all inertness and triviality.

It’s all an approximation of fun, mirth in tiny portions, amusement of the thinnest variety.

The worst film since Babylon, this surfeit of loud, obnoxious, violent junk audaciously claims to call itself a vampire farce, but there isn’t a genuine shred of originality anywhere in sight and it’s as witty as an ambulance with a flat tire.

I find Renfield a good comedy horror movie. I like Nicholas Cage as Dracula and as a matter fact I would like to see Nicholas Cage play Dracula again in another Universal Horror movie bringing Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf Man, Mummy, Invisible Man, The Creature from the Lagoon, Mad Doctor and Igor in a new Universal Monster Movie called the Monster Mash next year in 2024.

Renfield has a pretty funny idea: updating the Dracula myth from the point of view of his assistant, turning the relationship between master and servant into a kind of toxic dependency, and wrapping it all in comedy, action and lots of blood. It is not a great film, nor does it try to be, but it has enough nerve to be **** film works best when it accepts its own silliness. Some jokes land, some exaggerated violent scenes are funny precisely because of how excessive they are, and its modern tone tries to play with the vampire myth without becoming solemn. This is a mischievous version of Dracula, more interested in impact, spurts of blood and quick jokes than in building a truly solid story.Nicolas Cage is, as usual in this kind of role, completely over the top. But here that is not exactly a flaw. His Dracula is exaggerated, theatrical, absurd, almost a self-aware caricature, and that is why every time he appears the film gains energy. Nicholas Hoult also works well as a counterpoint, with that air of a poor man trapped in an impossible relationship he does not know how to **** problem is that Renfield does not always know what film it wants to be. Sometimes it feels like a very fresh horror comedy; at other times, like a fairly generic action movie; and in some moments it is clear that the premise could have led to something sharper. The codependency angle is funny, but it is not developed with much depth, and several subplots seem to be there more to fill space than to improve the whole thing.Even so, it is perfectly watchable. It is short, has pace, a bit of nastiness, buckets of blood and some genuinely funny moments. It is not the great modern reinvention of Dracula, nor a memorable comedy, but it is a likeable film to pass the time. Cage gives it life, the gore gives it personality and, even if the script is not always up to the task, the result is fun enough not to regret watching it.

Renfield has got that insane extreme action and death scenes with some funny dialogue in a very basic storyline.

Cage and Hoult are great together. Sadly, their performances are buried under a plot that is needlessly convoluted and uninteresting. We didn't need this whole nonsense of police corruption and a controlling mob. That just ruined the movie IMO.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]