Renfield [2023]
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Renfield [2023]
| Dimensions: | 19.2 x 13.5 x 1.6 cm; 70 Grams |
| Dimensions: | 19.2 x 13.5 x 1.6 cm; 70 Grams |
| Origin: | United Kingdom |
Renfield [2023]
| Dimensions: | 19.2 x 13.5 x 1.6 cm; 70 Grams |
| Dimensions: | 19.2 x 13.5 x 1.6 cm; 70 Grams |
| Origin: | United Kingdom |
Bloodthirsty and a good laugh if arms been ripped off is your kind of thing.
With that said there is some good acting, make-up and a quite basic story.
So this is not a film that takes its self too seriously or one were you have to concentrate for fear of loosing the plot.
Loved this film – Nicolas Cages Dracula had all the right elements of Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi & Max Schreck rolled into one, it looked like he really enjoyed himself making this and proved he loved his subject. Great over the top buckets of blood too.
After centuries of servitude to Dracula (played magnificently by Cage) Renfield (played by Nicholas Holt) wants to be a better person and have a normal life away from the Count. To this end he joined a co-dependent discussion group a little like Alcoholics Anonymous. It also gives him victims for Dracula, in the shape of the people that his group talk about. After summoning his courage, Renfield abandons Dracula and starts living a more normal life. He meets Rebecca (played here ably by Awkwafina) a police officer who’s cop father was murdered by the Lobo’s Crime Syndicate. Members of the syndicate (lead by Shohreh Aghdashloo) crash the restaurant that both Rebecca and Renfield are at. Thanks to her martial arts ability and his bug-powered powers from Dracula, the gang members are defeated.
Meanwhile, Dracula has taken his abandonment badly and intends to destroy humanity by teaming up with the Lobo’s and transforming them into an unstoppable army.
The characterisation, plot development and action scenes in the majority of the film were very good. However, I thought that the ending was quite lame, as though they had run out of ideas and just wanted to end it. The entire Dracula and Lobo’s plot deserved and needed much more plot development, even if this added to the running time and this is what would have made it a much better film in my opinion.
Possibly, it would have been better as a four or five part mini-series, rather than a 90 minute film. From what I saw of the deleted elements, it was a really good idea to delete them as they made the film much worse.
Nicolas Cage playing Dracula? Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever utter those words. Now, I don’t rate Cage as an actor but he hams his way through this horror spoof telling the tale of Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) wanting to come out from under the shadow of his mater Count Dracula (Cage). The script is witty and as sharp as Dracula’s teeth. Reminds me of another horror spoof ‘Dracula – Dead and Loving It’.
Was really pleasantly surprised by this. Cage did not attempt to sugar coat his Count. Dracula was opinionated and modern, looking forward to getting into organised crime and moving with the times. In short he was reprehensibly unpleasant, an ego maniac, unreasonable and superb. Renfield was trying to find his inner self and fit in to the new world. Faultless and excellent, genuinely funny with some strong twists.
The opening sequences of precisely replaying in black & white some key moments from the Lugosi Dracula were a nice touch. Lugosi and Dwight Frye replayed by the current slices of prime ham.
Renfield in the modern version now plays a little like a superhero, with his nibbling on bugs somewhat akin to Asterix swigging potion. In fact the treatment of villains in this is not unlike Asterix via Deadpool. It gets messy.
Somewhere between Blade and any of the post-modern superheroics, this rendering of Renfield is probably too much for some people in the comedic department, but it is balanced with the earthy tones of the ‘good cop’ who is the foil to the madness around her. If that character wasn’t present in earthbound and typically american pathos, the whole film might have gone lurching off like a balloon, such is the energy.
Plenty of entertainment, occasions when one is waiting for the next setpiece. But I dare you not to laugh loudly or enjoy the sheer kinetic energy present. Incidentally, rather than the usual neat pointy vamp biting we have Cage with teeth not unlike Lon Chaney in London After Midnight, if he been had-at by an over amorous shark…
Nicholas Cage’s name may be higher on the bill (and definitely higher on any promotional material), but it’s actually the younger Nicholas (Hoult) who is the centre of the story, playing the long-standing (and long-suffering) assistant to the most evil man alive, Count Dracula himself (ala Nicholas Cage). Cage doesn’t come into it as much as many of us would like, but, when he does, he genuinely steals every scene and is well worth the film’s runtime alone.
If the film does have a weakness it’s that the parts where Nicholas and Nicholas are too good. Because there’s a sort of sub-plot where a local police officer who is trying to take down the local crime family which has been interwoven within the main supernatural narrative. I can see how this part of the story fits in with the overall narrative, but it just feels a lot slower and ‘normal’ compared to the wild over-the-top horror of the main reason people have chosen to watch this film in the first place.
‘Renfield’ is definitely a ‘horror-comedy’ as the story shows all the laughably bloody consequences of getting involved with the Prince of Darkness and what day-to-day life working for such a villain is like. Expect plenty of gore (some of which is disappointingly CGI-heavy) and plenty of laughs. The more you know about the Dracula legend the more you’ll get out of this, but it should fit the bill for everyone from die-hard Cage fans, to the general horror audience.
Good film. The actors make the film and the characters. Brutal but funny at the same time. Nicolas Cage is just perfect as Dracula and Nicholas. Holt( about a boy) is perfect as Renfield. This is a good film to watch and enjoy
PLOT…
In the early 20th century, Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula met English lawyer R. M. Renfield, who was hoping to broker a deal for some land but ended up becoming Dracula’s familiar. For decades, Renfield has relied on supernatural powers that are initiated by eating bugs.
Renfield 2023 is a brilliant new fresh take on the Dracula story and his immortal sidekick, in this movie we see from Renfield’s point of view and the sacrifices he has to make to serve his master, longing for his own life he falls in love and try’s to escape the grasp of his master with disastrous consequences! The movie for most part is actually very serious with some mild humour splashed here and there, the cast is very good all round, Awkwafina is a pleasant lead actress as is Nicholas Hoult who plays Renfield very well, but the man of the hour is without doubt Nicolas Cage who plays the most awesome Dracula ever!! This guy is such a great actor and his performance as the lord of darkness is absolutely so very entertaining, I can only wish they make another movie in the future where Nic can play Dracula again! The movie has a good level of blood and violence, some practical some CG moments but overall great budget, one of the most surprising gems of the year. A must see.
Blu-ray has a great HD picture.
Features include deleted and alternative scenes, several featurettes (59mins)
Region B UK. Running time 93mins. 2023.
English language movie. plus French, German, Italian. HOH.
Subtitles English, Dutch, French, German, Italian.