After 100 years of DRACULA adaptations, it’s fair to say that any storyteller looking to further explore the tale needs to bring something truly inspired to the table. In this respect, the filmmakers behind RENFIELD don’t fall short: rather than simply adapt Bram Stoker’s novel for the umpteenth time, they’ve mounted a quasi-sequel to Universal’s 1931 classic that humorously explores the antagonistic relationship between its titular count and his familiar, Renfield, now in their 90th year of companionship and hiding out in America. And for their pièce de résistance, they’ve tapped Nicolas Cage to play Dracula, a choice that’s so inspired that it can’t help but overshadow everything that doesn’t involve everyone’s favorite mega-actor playing this campy take on the count. “Nic Cage plays Dracula” is most certainly enough to carry an entire movie, but, for whatever reason, RENFIELD is overstuffed with other, more ill-advised ideas, the most glaring being the decision to once again take an action movie approach with the Universal Monsters. Admittedly, this is more of a “me problem,” and I have to acknowledge that the film has its moments and some fun performances, but I can’t help but feel like this is a missed opportunity that doesn’t quite take full advantage of its greatest asset.
After all of these years serving as Dracula’s servant, former real estate solicitor Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) has grown weary of the cyclical nature of his existence: once he and his master relocate, he’s tasked with finding fresh victims to rejuvenate the count until a new group of vampire hunters comes knocking and he’s forced to wipe the floor with them with the superpowers he receives from eating bugs. After their latest ordeal (which ends with Renfield blowing up a priest played by William Ragsdale!), the duo has settled down in New Orleans, where the servant has joined a self-help group for people stuck in toxic, co-dependent relationships. At first, he exploits the group for victims by tracking down the folks who have been tormenting its members because he figures no one would miss them; with time, though, he comes to realize just how toxic his relationship with Dracula is, inspiring him to finally break free.
Which sounds like plenty of material for a compelling story, right? Obviously, writers Ryan Ridley and Robert Kirkman didn’t think so because Renfield’s crisis of conscience runs him afoul of a mob family that’s been a thorn in the side of a local cop (Awkwafina) who’s been looking to avenge her father’s death. It turns out this is the story here, especially once Dracula realizes the mob family would make a perfect army in his quest for world domination. Did I mention that all of this unfolds in a breathless 93 minutes? RENFIELD is trying to do an awful lot — offbeat humor, superhero action, splatstick horror — but only skims the surface of its potential in all facets. It’s occasionally chuckle-worthy, shows flashes of action movie inventiveness, and features some outrageously gory bits, yet so little of it manages to stick. RENFIELD is another wry, ironic trifle, a movie that treats its tongue-in-cheek approach as a license to be a complete farce, another trend I’ve admittedly grown a bit weary of.
In this case, the big joke so to speak — Nic Cage playing Dracula — is unquestionably the best thing it has going for it. It should come as no surprise that Cage emerges from all the busyness unscathed. He’s an utter delight, playing the Count with a theatrical flair that allows him to relish every line reading and every gesticulation. Few actors make as many deliberate, idiosyncratic choices as Cage, and RENFIELD lets him run wild in this respect. While an early flashback sequence drops Cage and Hoult into the 1931 DRACULA, Cage isn’t doing a Lugosi impression by any means, nor is he just rehashing his turn from VAMPIRE’S KISS. His Dracula is practically a cartoon villain whose hypnotic powers distract his victims from the fact that he’s twirling his mustache in plain sight. There’s nothing particularly suave or sympathetic about him because Cage leans into the toxic boss persona, reimagining Stoker’s count as a manipulative phony whose rare displays of sincerity are only a performative ploy. And yet, you can’t ever truly buy him as the villain here, maybe because you simply cannot loathe Nicolas Cage playing Dracula. Sure, he sucks (in more ways than one, natch), but can you really stay too mad at him? He’s simply too fun, not to mention the most lively presence in the film.
Which is not to say his co-stars don’t give it their all in keeping up. Hoult and Awkwafina are charming enough in starring roles that have the misfortune of being stuck in the shadow of a dream casting scenario. The two share a nice, easygoing chemistry, giving the film some stakes, even if it feels like those stakes are constantly in danger of being yanked out by the film’s glib tone, putting them in a tricky spot. On the one hand, they’re tasked with making the audience believe there’s something important lurking beneath all of this silliness, with Hoult particularly shouldering that burden as the melancholy, regretful Renfield who still mourns the wife and child he left behind to serve Dracula. On the other, they’re also constantly providing comic relief by pointing out the absurdity of the entire premise here (as if we could miss it). They admirably straddle this line, giving the film just enough pathos as everyone around them (especially Shohreh Aghdashloo and Ben Schwartz as the mother-son mob leaders) goes big and bold to keep up with Cage, who ultimately upholds the Poochie principle: whenever he’s not around, you find yourself wondering where the Nic Cage Dracula is.
When he’s around, all is well; when he isn’t, RENFIELD tries to compensate with outlandish action movie theatrics that rely on dynamic camera movements and CGI embellishments rather than impressive staging or choreography. It feels like yet another attempt by modern Hollywood to exploit the success of comic book blockbusters, but it feels like an especially ill-fit with this particular property because I’m not sure anyone craves kung fu in their Dracula movie if it doesn’t involve Hammer Films and the Shaw Brothers (also not helping matters: the existence of the JOHN WICK films, which have raised the bar for action movie violence). To its credit, RENFIELD does punctuate its violence with some imaginative gore outbursts that would provide Joe Bob Briggs plenty of fodder for his drive-in totals between its abundance of severed limbs, decapitations, and full-on exploding bodies. A lot of it is too cartoonish to be truly gross, but there’s some nice craftsmanship on display, especially when Dracula is a husk of rotting viscera, giving Cage a chance to playfully hiss beneath some gnarly make-up effects. RENFIELD is very far removed from Stoker’s gothic horror roots, but some moments honor that legacy (and evoking the 1931 film is an unexpected delight).
To be clear, RENFIELD is a misfire borne out of ambition, which is preferable to watching someone drag Dracula from his coffin to just go through the motions. Director Chris McKay and company have more than a few wild cards up their sleeves — it’s just that they don’t seem to realize that Cage is their ace, and their zealous attempt to blend action, comedy, horror, and even a dash of heartfelt sentiment never quite coalesces. Again, I want to emphasize that some of this boils down to my desire to see these characters fully return to those horror roots. Universal has been chasing the dragon of Stephen Sommers’ reinvention of THE MUMMY for over 20 years now, with this being the third stab at it involving Dracula following VAN HELSING and DRACULA UNTOLD. Luckily, Universal already has another Dracula loaded in the chamber with the long-gestating LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER later this summer, so it’s a little easier to stomach RENFIELD as an appetizer of sorts. In this era of abundance, it can be overwhelming to keep up with everything, but this is a definite upside: RENFIELD isn’t exactly my speed, but maybe the next DRACULA movie will be. Plus, this one did give us Nicolas Cage playing the King of the Vampires, so I can’t completely dismiss it.
Tags: Adrian Martinez, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Bess Rous, Brandon Scott Jones, Brett Gallman, Bryan Furst, Camille Chen, Caroline Williams, Chris McKay, Count Dracula, David Alpert, Dracula, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Giancarlo Ganziano, Helen Chandler, Jenna Kanell, Marco Beltrami, Miles Doleac, Mitchell Amundsen, Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Renfield, Robert Kirkman, Ryan Folsey, Ryan Ridley, Sean Furst, Shohreh Aghdashloo, William Ragsdale, Zene Baker
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