Horror, Comedy and Nicolas Cage: A Review of Renfield
Andaluna Malki | April 20, 2023
Limbs as weapons? Check? A plentiful and a half of self-help jargon? Check. Nicolas Cage rising above a terrified audience as his mercy? Check!
Renfield is a feature in and of itself. Even if you are not one of those familiar with the source material Dracula (1897) written by Brom Stoker and the 1931 cult-classic film Dracula staring Bela Lugosi as the star Count, Renfield is full of giggle and gore-soaked moments for all to enjoy.
The cast offers fantastic performances from both the leading and supporting sides. Nicolas Holt is Renfield, our bug-hungry and firstly disheveled servant of The Dark One. Holt is not new to action or thriller as his previous roles as Nux in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015, Dir. George Miller) and the whiny supporting man Tyler in The Menu (2022, Dir. Mark Mylod) gave him a fantastic direction in Renfield. Every time he was on the screen, I wanted to give him a little kiss.
Nicolas Cage is our devil spoken off, our Dracula. He is not new to the world of vampiric powers as he played a vampire with sleazy tendencies in Vampire's Kiss (1988, Dir. Robert Beirman.) Cage even owns several castles, so who knows if he sleeps in a velvet-inserted oak coffin or not? Now, every time he was on the screen, it is not appropriate to say what I wanted to do. Let’s say even in the early stages of the film , if you are aware of his state at that point, you would gasp out of repulsiveness. But how can you say no to Nicolas Cage even if he does resemble a moldy paper towel at times?
The film follows Dracula’s poor, exhausted servant as he begins to attend meetings for addicts to abusive relationships. He eventually becomes entangled with the city’s crime family, the Lobos (Ben Schwartz, Parks and Rec, and Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog, make fantastic appearances in the golden wolf emblemed familial roles.)
The city’s police take notice of a vigilante (Renfield) getting involved in their cases. Awkwafina, Crazy Rich Asians (2018), takes the role of the daughter of a key character from the novel, Quincy P. Morris. She plays a cop who gets involved with Renfield and his endeavors to break free of Dracula’s toxic hold.
The director and producer Chris McKay had the same roles in The Lego Batman Movie (2017). I have not seen The Lego Batman Movie, but I have a feeling McKay has an appreciation for some sick-ass action scenes involving definitive icons from cult classics. The story was created by Robert Kirkman, who is a zombie fanatic and offered his expertise on The Walking Dead and the show’s counterpart Fear The Walking Dead. The writer Ryan Ridley worked on Rick and Morty and Community.
This team made Renfield impossible to become something other than a feast of gore and giggles. It certainly was silly. I was not expecting storytelling on an Everything Everywhere All at Once level. If I had to compare Renfield to anything, let's say 22 Jump Street (2014, Dir. Chris Miller, Phil Lord) met Terrifier (2016, Dir. Damien Leone) and got really cozy.
I so hope to see Holt and Cage in a film together again. The dynamic the two have is fascinating to watch as Holt is 6’3 and Cage is 6’, but Holt harnesses the feat of making himself look impossibly small in the presence of his overbearing boss and owner of his soul. Casting directors must take advantage of this duo because I would gladly spend the $8.50 for a matinee show to see them again.
I was kicking my feet back and forth in the theater when the antagonists would enter the room, facing a bug-fueled Renfield. The trailer showcases our leading man slicing through the attacker’s arms with a decorative serving platter. I can attest that moment is nothing compared to Renfield’s later fantastic fights. All I can say is … is a human arm really capable of piercing through one’s sternum?
Besides the slimy layer of cop-agenda, I would recommend this movie if you have an “all-powerful,” control-obsessed, energy sucker in your life that you would just love to shove a copy of How to Defend Yourself from a Narcissist in their face like a bible. I recommend this if you want to watch some whimsical montages of apartment decorating and Macy’s shopping. And finally, I recommend this if you simply want to watch Nicolas Cage adorn some absolutely stunning red velvet suits and vapourous bats.