Renfield (2023) - Review

I hope this month's lineup of movies has been enjoyable for you as it has been for me. There have been some hurdles that have come my way to complete this month's themed project, but I have tried my best to overcome them and deliver this project to you. I will be returning to non-New Orleans set movies after this post, and will be as consistent as possible as my semester winds down these final months. Enjoy!

Renfield is an action/comedy movie starring Nicolas Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as his attendant Renfield. This movie is a direct sequel, however strange it is to write, to the original Bram Stoker's Dracula story adapted by Universal in 1931 focusing on the struggle and survival of Dracula in modern New Orleans. To aid with Dracula's healing process after a nearly fatal altercation, Renfield has relocated the pair to the Louisiana city and is determined to obtain victims from those that abuse others. To do this, he stalks his victims from leads obtained from a support group; he helps Dracula heal and he helps others move past their problems. Renfield quickly finds himself interacting with an NOPD officer Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina) and her frequent intersections with the Lobo crime family, led by Teddy (Ben Schwartz) and the matriarch Bellafrancesca (Shohreh Aghadashloo). Renfield's infatuation with officer Quincy leads to a crisis in conscience as he feels like he has let humanity down by coming under Dracula's mastering.

The casting in this movie made the comedy and action that ensues really fun to watch; each character was cartoonish and over the top, which made sense to me once I noticed that the story was created and produced by Robert Kirkman. The real strength in this movie is that it never takes itself seriously for one bit. Even when the stakes are high and characters are placed in desperate situations, there is a sense of everyone having fun with their characters. Despite all of the ham-handedness of the comedy placed throughout the movie and a sense of phrenetic energy as characters are acting chaotically by default, there were moments where the movie slowed down enough for some incredibly cinematic moments. When Renfield has been tracked to Dracula's lair and an opposing group comes to look for him, the silence of the lair combined with the set design piqued my interest with the contrast to the usually light nature of the other scenes. Another moment that warrants praise happens at the beginning of the movie as Renfield is recapping the 1931 Dracula story for the audience where Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult are superimposed upon their respective characters in the footage for the previous Universal film. While it is strange noticing these modern actors in such an old set, the transitions in this scene make those feelings go away quickly. These moments are few and far between, however, so the remainder of the movie is filled with cartoonish hyper violence with larger than life characters who are determined for you to enjoy the time you spend watching.

Renfield was a really fun surprise earlier this year. I hardly go see movies in the theater any more because of a rapid decrease in available time for leisure, so being able to see a short and fun movie is something that I really look forward to. I told a friend of mine that the movie isn't cinema, but it is fun to watch. There is something about the freedom that Nic Cage is enjoying in this period of his renaissance in selecting the roles that he wants to play that we haven't seen since his early career as a leading man. This freedom brings a sense of joy to the audience of his fans who have endured many of his direct-to-video, debt clearing roles that seemed to lack a sense of 'soul' in the finished product. Last but not least, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that after nearly 30 years, Nicolas Cage has finally closed the loop on Vampire's Kiss and played an actual vampire.