Even if Nicolas Cage delivers an entertaining, over-the-top performance as Count Dracula and Nicholas Hoult channels his inner Hugh Grant with hints of “Warm Bodies,” “Renfield” feels relatively lackluster due to doing very little with its promising hilarious premise with Hammer Horror sensibilities. And the reliance on CGI effects and buckets of crimson red doesn’t do it any favors, either.
Out of all the classic Universal monsters based on traditional stories that go back hundreds of years in our culture, in my opinion, Count Dracula is the most fascinating one. From blockbuster films to several book adaptations, the bloodsucking leader of the vampires has had several reinventions; some delivered mixed results but simultaneously contained intriguing ideas about mortality, human nature, isolation, and religion. In the grand scheme of things, Dracula and vampires, in general, are great cinematic tentpoles for great stories, as seen in Werner Herzog’s “Nosferatu,” George Melford’s “Drácula,” Mario Bava’s “Black Sunday” (or “Planet of the Vampires”), and even the Hammer Horror campy blessings of “The Satanic Rites of Dracula.” However, there has been a recent trend of putting these monsters in 21st Century settings that somewhat ruin the amusing elements of the stories.
Cage and Hoult Struggle to Hold the Picture Together
Unfortunately, Chris McKay’s latest studio feature, “Renfield,” is one of them, ending as a disappointing affair with a promising premise. Renfield centers around the titular character (Nicholas Hoult), the classic servant of Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage). This time around, he’s being portrayed with a superhero-like persona. Renfield has some special abilities where he gets great strength, agility, and endurance by eating bugs. That’s one of the gifts his vampire superior gave him, so Renfield could follow him around as his servant for decades to come. This narrative gadget paves the way for the film’s comedic tone. Here, McKay can showcase his witty scriptures that often contain straight winks at the camera. Renfield is tired of Dracula’s abusive behavior. He wants to live an everyday life for once. Renfield is just tired of murdering people.
He doesn’t want to do the same routine or slashing throats and bringing them to the Count for the purpose of regaining his strength back. To help with his anxieties, Renfield attends a “toxic workplace environment” support group. In there, people come together to talk about the harshness and unfairness that their respective bosses treat them with. The beginning of the film is quite promising. This setup for “Renfield” paves the way for a profitable and hilarious premise. It contains some of the original ideas of Dracula while adding dashes of 21st Century complexities. He just wants to live a normal life, but his boss drains him emotionally, and it has reached its endpoint. And there are a couple of chuckles along the way, primarily because of the cast’s line delivery and postures, more so than the script itself.
Lacking CGI, and Gore to Boot
When Chris McKay implements an undercover police story on top of the Hammer Horror-like narrative, everything loses steam rapidly. The crew had some key factors that they could have relied on, which benefited them. Just by the presence of Nicolas Cage, people would tune in. It’s disappointing because everything seemed to be starting off on the right foot. But eventually, as the story keeps dragging its feet on the slippery slope of the horror-comedy subgenre, it relies on cheap bits and sloppy gags. The original premise gets lost amidst the addition of new, yet less interesting, characters whose motives (and resolutions) feel more like plot contrivances rather than an actually well-structured plotline. Although I don’t like his previous features (“The Lego Batman Movie” and “The Tomorrow War”), you can sense the deeper focus in story and character building there than in “Renfield.”
Nicolas Cage as Dracula in “Renfield,” directed by Chris McKay. (Photo: Universal Pictures).
Characters go through their respective paths through comedic gags rather than something reasonable. Hoult and Cage both playfully and perfectly bounce off each other. Their performances call back to some of their previous work. Hoult’s calls back to “Warm Bodies” (with a Hugh Grant twang), while Cage does the same with “Vampire Kiss.” Each time they are not together on-screen, you begin to doze off. Sure, there are a handful of likable screen presences in the film that you would be interested in watching and have been great in previous projects, like Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Jenna Kanell, and Shohreh Aghdashloo. Nevertheless, they can’t make the weak script and rapidly-plodding story come together neatly. The film marketed its “gory aspects” in the trailers and teasers. But, when you actually see the picture, it’s completely missing, at least in terms of precision and expectancy.
Wondering What Could Have Been
The violent scenes and bloody sequences are made with sloppy visual effects and rendered CGI. Even the blood looks fake. This makes me want to tune off entirely. In addition, there is no tactility in the characters, both emotionally and in terms of their angst. “Renfield” makes many mistakes along its short 93-minute journey that makes us ponder what could have been. In the hands of another director, would this have succeeded, or at least had more Hammer Horror tendencies? Unfortunately, the Hoult x Cage hot ticket misses the mark with a promising conjecture. And the more I have thought about the film, the less I have found myself liking it.
“Renfield” is currently only available to watch in theaters.
