Renfield (2023)

We've all had at least one boss in our life that was a nightmare to work for and we just wanted to get away from. This movie comes from the perspective of Renfield as he finally tries to make his break from Dracula that has turned his life into a living hell. They have run out of funds over time, Dracula is still healing from the last run in with vampire hunters, and Renfield is trying to find his place in the world. Mix in a cop that has a grudge against the local crime family for the death of her father and you get this crazy spin on the Dracula tale. Also toss in buckets of blood....there is a lot of blood....everywhere...but for the most part it makes sense and is tastefully done. At one point even an arm is used as a bulging. 

For those familiar with the story of Dracula, this breaks with the Stroker version where that it was Renfield that travels to Romania instead of Jonathan Harker. There he gets pulled into serving Dracula by an offer of power, money, and influence. Other versions of Dracula have done this as well where they merge the two characters into one.

When it comes to the acting in the film Nicholas Hoult, Renfield, did a great job. Hoult is one of those actors that play random roles, but each one he brings so much personality into. Hoult has been in many geeky movies like X-Men, Mad Max, and Warm Bodies. I could not think of a more perfect actor to pull of this part. Then there was Nicolas Cage's portrayal of Dracula. This is not the first vampire movie that Cage as done, he was also in Vampire's Kiss and has done other geeky movies like Ghost Rider, Season of the Witch, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Too be truthful I think that he tried to make Dracula hammy, but it went so far that Dracula just felt awkward. Maybe if he had used a different approach to Dracula it may have been better, but I think that many other actors would have been a better fit for the film. Then you have Awkwafina who has been popping up in everything lately like Shang-Chi and Raya and the Last Dragon. She played a cop trying to bring justice to a city where all the cops are on the take and no one stands up for what is right any more. I find her very amusing to watch and she always brings a type of dry humor to her parts.

The special effects in this movie were good. This includes everything from how Dracula regenerates to even how the lighting of the film was incorporated into the scenes. There was a lot of blood shooting around. There were several times in the film I was thinking about how much blood was flying, but at the same time it was used in ways that made sense for the scene and not just bloody to be bloody. The fight scenes were also an extreme, but were still well planned and thoughtful.

Overall I would give it 4 stars out of 5 or a B and most of the docked points comes from Nicholas Cage's killing of Dracula.

AMC had this special drink that you could get in their bar area for $16. Way to expensive for the size of their drinks and it would be best to save your money and just go to a bar afterward.

Picture 1 From: https://www.tvinsider.com/show/renfield/

Picture 2 From: https://www.culturaocio.com/cine/noticia-nicolas-cage-bebio-sangre-interpretando-dracula-renfield-20230327135753.html

Picture 3 From: https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3752798/renfield-new-image-of-nicolas-cage-as-dracula-in-universal-monsters-horror-comedy/

Picture 4 From: https://www.caseymoviemania.com/renfield-2023-review/

Picture 5 From: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/renfield-reviewed-a-concept-in-search-of-a-movie