{"id":6576,"date":"2024-10-25T12:06:51","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T16:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=6576"},"modified":"2024-10-25T12:06:51","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T16:06:51","slug":"renfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/10\/25\/renfield\/","title":{"rendered":"Renfield"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Renfield <\/strong>(2023)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal\/Comedy-Horror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 93 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (bloody violence, some gore, language throughout, some drug use)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Chris McKay\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Ryan Ridley\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Marco Beltrami\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Mitchell Amundsen\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: April 14, 2023 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Brandon Scott Jones, Adrian Martinez, Camille Chen, James Moses Black, Bess Rous, Jenna Kanell, Danya LaBelle, Rhonda Johnson Dents, Christopher Matthew Cook, Michael P. Sullivan, Rosha Washington, T.C. Matherne, Caroline Williams, Marcus Lewis, Derek Russo, Marvin Ross, G-Rod, Dave Davis, Keith Brooks, Joshua Mikel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $17.3M (US)\/$26.9M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ***<\/p>\n

\u00a0Nicolas Cage as Dracula, it practically writes itself, doesn\u2019t it? I\u2019m surprised it took this long for somebody to realize the brilliance of this bit of casting. 35 years after he donned a set of fake fangs in the wild and weird Vampire\u2019s Kiss, Cage plays the father of all bloodsuckers in the comedy-horror Renfield<\/strong>, a completely different take on Bram Stoker\u2019s terrifying tale of Count Dracula, the nocturnal nobleman from Transylvania with a thirst for blood. We all know that OTT is Cage\u2019s default setting. There\u2019s a reason some refer to him as \u201cNick f***iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing ow-wow Cage!!!\u201d It serves him perfectly in this ultra-gory funny fright flick told from the perspective of the Count\u2019s bug-eating personal assistant Renfield played by Nicholas Hoult (The Menu).<\/p>\n

\u00a0In one of many nice touches, Renfield<\/strong> opens with the title character sitting in a meeting for people in toxic co-dependent relationships. It\u2019s one of those 12-step support groups that regularly meet in church basements to vent about their situations while the leader offers up platitudes about self-esteem and taking control of one\u2019s own life. Renfield\u2019s original intention for being there is slightly more diabolical than self-help. He\u2019s looking for food for his master who\u2019s hiding in an abandoned New Orleans hospital recovering from a near-fatal encounter with vampire hunters.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Due to a crisis of conscience, Renfield chooses victims who are anything but innocent- i.e. the abusive persons discussed in the room. Naturally, this doesn\u2019t set well with the Count who berates his servant for daring to make an autonomous decision. This is when Renfield realizes he\u2019s in the exact same situation as everybody in the group. Well, almost exact; there is that whole murder-for-nourishment thing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0While going after somebody\u2019s narcissistic boyfriend, Renfield accidentally steps on the toes of local crime family, the Lobos. Specifically, he inadvertently interferes with a hit and causes the boss\u2019 dimwitted son Teddy (Schwartz, Sonic the Hedgehog) to be arrested by traffic cop Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), seemingly the only member of NOPD who isn\u2019t corrupt. She\u2019s the only cop trying to take down the Lobos. They murdered her father, also an honest cop in a sea of corruption, but nobody is willing to do anything because the family has all the right people in their pocket.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Rebecca and Renfield have their meet-cute at a restaurant when some of Teddy\u2019s thugs show up with guns to make an example of her. Renfield, whose powers are activated by eating insects, jumps into action and saves her life. Realizing how much better it feels helping people than killing them, Renfield tries to build a new life for himself away from Dracula. It\u2019s not going to be easy. Besides having to deal with an inhuman monster who refuses to accept his resignation, the boss (Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog) declares war on him which leads to more attacks that don\u2019t end well for the assailants, gangsters and cops working together. If nothing else, it gives new meaning to the term \u201carmed and dangerous\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Although he\u2019s given his share of fine performances (e.g. Leaving Las Vegas), crazy Cage is the version we really want to see. That\u2019s what we get here. He doesn\u2019t just chew up the scenery; he devours it with great aplomb. His interpretation of Dracula is singular and hysterically funny. That\u2019s the main reason to see Renfield<\/strong>. However, it\u2019s not the only reason. Hoult, who costarred as Cage\u2019s teenage son in 2005\u2019s The Weather Man, has been making a name for himself since 2002\u2019s comedy-drama About a Boy. It wasn\u2019t his debut, but it\u2019s the role that got him noticed. He\u2019s so versatile. As Renfield, he successfully adds a dimension- i.e. the whole co-dependency thing- to the character that\u2019s never been explored before (at least not that I know of). Here\u2019s a guy who\u2019s been lurking in the shadows for close to a century. He lost himself to the dark side a long time ago and desperately wants to be a decent person. Hoult sells it without breaking a sweat.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I love Awkwafina. She\u2019s easily one of the most appealing comedic actresses working in film today. Although director Chris McKay (The LEGO Batman Movie) affords her character little in the way of development, she brings her uniqueness to the role in how she reacts and adapts to each situation. She\u2019s always a joy to watch. Lackluster character development is a problem throughout Renfield<\/strong>. The crime boss played by the splendid Aghdashloo is extremely one-dimensional. Shouldn\u2019t a villainous character project a bit more menace? She\u2019s more like a hard-ass corporate boss than a leader in the criminal underworld. Oh well, at least she looks good doing what she does.<\/p>\n

\u00a0There are a lot of clever bits in Renfield<\/strong>, but the one that stands out for me is the flashback sequence depicting Renfield\u2019s first meeting with his future master. It looks exactly like an old black and white horror movie. It acts like connective tissue to the original 1931 Dracula film from Universal. Although a lot of it is CGI, I really enjoyed the action sequences. McKay doesn\u2019t skimp on the gore either. This movie is insanely bloody and violent. For me, that\u2019s always a strong selling point.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I didn\u2019t expect a horror masterpiece when I signed on to watch Renfield<\/strong>. I just wanted to have a good time at the movies. Well, I did. It\u2019s a nice mix of horror and comedy. It\u2019s one of the best of its kind I\u2019ve seen in a while. I might even put it up there with The Return of the Living Dead. Of course, that one didn\u2019t have Nicolas Cage and all his craziness. I have to say it again, he\u2019s \u201cNick f***iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing ow-wow Cage!!!\u201d That sums it up perfectly, don\u2019t you think?\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Renfield (2023)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal\/Comedy-Horror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 93 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (bloody violence, some gore, language throughout, some drug use)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Chris McKay\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Ryan Ridley\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Marco Beltrami\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Mitchell Amundsen\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: April 14, 2023 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Brandon Scott Jones, Adrian Martinez, Camille Chen, James Moses Black, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Renfield-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6576"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7410,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6576\/revisions\/7410"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}