When Nicolas Cage walks out from the foyer in full Dracula mode during Renfield’s luscious black-and-white re-creations of Tod Browning’s Dracula, it’s clear the actor is about to have the time of his life. Cage’s performance is, reliably, the strongest part of the latest take on Bram Stoker’s bloodsucker: However, Renfield focuses on the titular familiar (Hoult) to mixed results. At its best, it’s a fun horror-comedy romp, with great practical effects work and clear affection for its villain. At its worst, it’s an overstuffed, poorly CGI’d take on another piece of familiar IP.
Renfield is starting to reconsider his toxic relationship with Count Dracula. For decades, he’s been at the count’s beck and call, spiriting victims away to the pair’s lair and eating bugs to gain superpowers to protect his master. After attending a few meetings of a support group for struggling co-dependents as a cover for finding dinner for Dracula, Renfield begins to see a way out of his cursed lifestyle. However, it’s when the familiar sees police officer Rebecca (Awkwafina) stand up to local gang the Lobos in a restaurant confrontation, that he understands the potential of standing up for himself. Rebecca’s father was killed by the gang years ago, and she’s seeking real justice, which is hard to do when the majority of the police squad is on the Lobos’ payroll. When the Lobos and Dracula come together to forge a path toward world domination, Rebecca and Renfield become unlikely partners in stopping the unholy alliance from achieving their goals.
If this plot summary sounds a little sweaty and overstuffed, that’s because it is, and there’s more to be found within the plot of Renfield, including a flaccid romantic arc between Renfield and Rebecca that goes nowhere. This packed yet hollow script is one of the film’s chief weaknesses. For every moment Cage gets the opportunity to vamp and ham it up in burgundy velvet suits or gnarly makeup, elevating the material he’s been given to work with, there’s one that falls flat, usually involving CGI blood that feels more 2003 than 2023. Hoult is serviceable as Renfield, but while his sad boy energy makes sense for the narrative it’s still missing the feral devotion that made Dwight Frye’s take on the character in the 1931 Universal classic so iconic.
Despite its faults, the affection the movie has for its predecessor (most notably in its opening black-and-white sequences) is clear and contagious. There’s also fun work being done by the players rounding out the support group, clueless to the gravity of Renfield’s situation until it’s too late. Cage’s choices – the cadence of a word, a well-placed hand, a too-wide smile – are all delightfully unhinged. It’s a gift to see an actor as committed as Cage taking a big bite out of a role. If the movie doesn’t match up, at least Cage delivers, deliciously. It’s a meaty performance that’s worth sinking your teeth into.
This article appears in April 14 • 2023.