Renfield

A surprising romp from start to finish and a great performance by Nicolas Cage as Dracula. This year of vampires looks promising so far, and Renfield can definitely be counted among the best horror comedies, as a little sibling to the excellent Day Shift. The story may be simple, but it's entirely sufficient. We have Nicholas Hoult as Renfield, who looks for food for his master Dracula. In addition, the gangster Teddy Lobo (a brilliantly written and acted character) is on the rampage in the city and the policewoman Awkwafina is trying to destroy his criminal organization. The plot isn't the point, but it's enough that it's presented in an entertaining way and has a great pace. The action scenes are nice, and while they are frantically edited, they are the most important thing to see. The fights are dynamic, physically tough and most importantly very brutal. There is plenty of gore, it's almost comic book-like, nicely over-the-top, with blood flying by the gallon (there's perhaps even more gore here than in the new Evil Dead, so violence lovers will really enjoy a lot of fun and crazy fatalities). Tearing someone's arms off to then use as a murderous spear is simply awesome. In that respect, the film surprised and delighted me a lot, but it needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Dracula's make-up is also good, and Cage overacts, stealing scenes for himself. For me, a very entertaining and brutal diversion that I would happily watch again with friends. (24.04.2023)

Renfield has served Dracula for years and allowed himself to be terrorized by him. Now he has a chance to take the things on his hands and finally be happy, only he won't have it easy in a world of corrupt cops, gangsters and angry vampires. Neither will you if you go to the movies. Renfield is an overwrought borefest that doesn't know what it wants to be, so it tries to be a horror movie (doesn't scare), a comedy (doesn't entertain), an action flick (poorly edited) and a psychological drama (doesn't work very well). Oh, and it has Nicolas Cage running on half throttle, so it's not even entertainingly weird, either. A dud of a film, worth seeing if only to watch how things crumble under the makers’ hands. (18.04.2023)

Beautiful. Even though Renfield is at first glance just regular entertainment from the "fun violence" section and the cast screams ethnic diversity to the world, it is also an absolute hit in the Universal horror tradition. There is nothing more pleasant than smoothly continuing with Dracula (1931) and watching how the relationship between Dracula and Renfield has evolved. Such pastiches go so far that classic black and white shots of Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye are re-shot here with Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult, and it's overall a joy. Plus, it takes place in New Orleans, so I have everything I need to be happy. (14.04.2023)