I have always had a soft spot for Dracula’s codependent familiar, Renfield. My first introduction to him was in a campy comedy, Love at First Bite(gotta love a late 70s comedy). Arte Johnson played the role with comedic creepiness, helping Dracula adjust to life in a present day New York. Flash forward too many years to count, we have a new comedy, where Dracula’s codependent familiar is the star. Renfield, starring Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult, is in theaters now. But is this movie made for everyone?
About the Movie
Evil doesn’t span eternity without a little help.
In this modern monster tale of Dracula’s loyal servant, Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men franchise) stars as Renfield, the tortured aide to history’s most narcissistic boss, Dracula (Oscar® winner Nicolas Cage). Renfield is forced to procure his master’s prey and do his every bidding, no matter how debased. But now, after centuries of servitude, Renfield is ready to see if there’s a life outside the shadow of The Prince of Darkness. If only he can figure out how to end his codependency.
Renfield – In Theaters April 14
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Renfield stars Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez and Shohreh Aghdashloo. Renfield has a 93 minute runtime and is rated R for bloody violence, some gore, language throughout and some drug use.
What I Thought
While I am not a gory, bloody violent movie fan, Renfield was not the movie I expected. Don’t get me wrong, the blood and violence in this movie was insane. What I did not expect was how much I laughed throughout this movie – and I mean the kind of “laugh out loud with the entire audience” laugh. Renfield is the most fun I have had at the movies in a long time.
The story opens with black and white Bela Lugosi Dracula feels, giving a bit of a backstory. Fast forward, we find Renfield with Dracula in a modern day New Orleans, needing to rehabilitate after an “in the sun” episode. Renfield heads out to find his master “food,” and finds himself at a meeting for codependent people in toxic relationships, questioning his life choices, all while stumbling into the drama of the local crime syndicate.
Nicolas Cage takes his Dracula performance seriously, really honing in on the creeptastic features that make The Prince of Darkness dark. But it is Nicholas Hoult’s quiet and quirky performance as Renfield that really shines bright. Awkwafina is, as always, hysterical, bringing her level of quick wit to this story. The ironic part of this movie is while Renfield is trying to stop being codependent, this movie is 100% codependent of its cast.
If you think Renfield is not for you because of the skyrocketing blood level or violence, remember you can always look away. Renfield is not an Oscar winning movie, nor is it reinventing the wheel. Renfield is a fun movie with a new twist on a story we all know. Go see Renfield and laugh. You deserve it.
A Disney blooded, crafty, fun-lovin’ wife/mom/organizer/planner, etc who is obsessed with all things Disney 🙂 Maria grew up with the Magic Kingdom and has loved watching WDW evolve into what it is today. A firm believer in the Power of Pixie Dust, she is the owner of The Disney Driven Life – A Community for Neurotic Disney People & a d.i.y. crafty blog, Carousel of Projects – create~inspire~share.
