Review For Renfield

For those with a passion for blood and gore Renfield more than satisfies.  A refreshing take on well known characters with Dracula’s familiar, the titular Renfield taking center stage. Played by Nicolas Hoult, Renfield is a scrawny, twitchy character who spends his days and nights skulking round the streets of New Orleans where he currently resides with his Master. After having been run out of multiple cities and countries due to Dracula’s penchant for eating folks explained by a sequence which is marvelously recounted through montage homaging Universal’s own 1931 Bel Lugosi starring Dracula.

Renfield finds solace in group therapy sessions led by the sympathetic Mark (Brandon Scott Jones) which deal mainly with toxic relationships. Quickly realizing that he is in perhaps the most toxic relationship in history, Renfield promises himself to take action. Taking action though, is not so easy  when your Boss is an immortal, all powerful bloodsucker. Enter Nicolas Cage as Dracula. Slithering on screen with a seductive drawl, Cage is clearly loving every second of playing one of fictions most evil characters. With some wonderful prosthetic work in these early scenes reminiscent of An American Werewolf in London. Dracula is unhappy with the type of meals that Renfield has been providing and feels that his familiar is maybe loosing focus. Nuns or a Bus of Cheerleaders would be preferred rather than the abusive partners of his therapy peers Renfield has been targeting.

Renfield has also made the mistake of angering the most powerful crime family in New Orleans… The Lobos. Run by the family matriarch Ella,  a wonderfully vampy Shoherh Aghdashloo and her hothead son Teddy (Ben Schwartz) who boasts of killing millions. Renfield finds himself the target of both the Lobos and his increasingly frustrated master. Still there is reason for happiness as Renfield becomes fascinated by a very brave human, in the form of Police officer Rebeca Quincy (Awkwafina) the only one who seems willing to stand up to the Lobos, who have the city, including her own Police department in their pocket.

Getting superhuman powers from eating bugs Renfield is able to go on a bloody rampage in order to once and for all rid himself from his abusive master. But will it work? There are many funny scenes throughout the movie and the gore is well balanced. All in all I had a wonderful time and would recommend this film to monsters near and far who should be happy to see one of their most iconic hero/villains return to the big screen.