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Renfield

This is a funny, sweary, extremely bloody take on the Dracula tale, focussing on his manservant, Renfield, and their 'complicated' relationship. It very much hangs on the casting, and the filmmakers have pulled an ace with Nic Cage as the Prince of Darkness. He's as hammy as he's ever been and his utterance of the word 'husk' is worth the ticket price alone. But, in theory, this is not Cage's film, as you might guess from the title. The lead is played by Nicholas Hoult and he's the perfect foil for Cage - meek and awkward (at least until he eats bugs), caring, to a degree, and loyal. Until now.

It appears Renfield is having a few qualms about his role in the uneven partnership, and this has led him to attend a co-dependency therapy group based in a New Orleans church hall. The writers handle this scenario better than might be expected, with some melancholy accompanying the chuckles. This schism in Renfield's life is bound to displease his master and so, when the count is strong enough (in a Voldemort fashion), blood is on the menu.

There's a wrinkle in the story, about a local plod, Rebecca (Awkwafina), who seems to be the one incorruptible on the entire force, and of course, she crosses paths with Renfield in the process of going after a city crime family. This whole 'corrupt cops in the pocket of gangsters' shtick is a bit flat, but I suppose it suffices as the perilous element of the film - especially once Drac enlists them in his plans for world domination.

Creaky plot aside, director Chris McKay and writers Ryan Ridley, Robert Kirkman and Ava Tramer, place all their bets on the fusion of Cage and Hoult, and this pays off big time. If anything, it could have done with more scenes of them together. Still recovering, Drac bemoans to Renfield, "Get me a happy couple, some unsuspecting tourists, some nuns, a bus full of cheerleaders.... You mean female cheerleaders?.... Oh Renfield, don't make this sexxxxxual!" Cage skirts extremely close to Dr. Evil, by way of Kenneth Williams from the Carry On films, he really gives it the full welly.

One more draw is the comical bloody shredding that ensues in the fight scenes - Rebecca has to ask Renfield, "Did I watch you cut off a guy's arms with a decorative serving platter?" He also proper dismembers a dude, a la Chewbacca, in an apartment building scene that almost recalls The Raid, but with even more flowing claret. Cage even gets to quote Arthur Rimbaud at one point, while Hoult starts to look just like his character in Mad Max: Fury Road - these happy little cross-overs don't happen all the time.

Renfield is in cinemas now and it has more than enough to satisfy, particularly for Cage fans.

See also:

The R-rated shenanigans bring another recent film to mind, Elizabeth Banks' Cocaine Bear (2023). For a younger Cage in vampire mode, try Robert Bierman's Vampire's Kiss (1988).

(Film stills and trailer ©Universal, 2023)

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