Renfield Movie Review

“Renfield” places its tongue firmly within its cheek – then goes bloody crazy and bites the whole thing off. There are winks and nods to original source material (Universal’s traditional Dracula movies) and modern updates with gore, drugs and violence. But this time the main character is not the Master of Evil, but his put-upon servant. Talk about ‘Horrible Bosses’!

Renfield (played by Nicholas Hoult) is in a bit of a pickle. He is the personal assistant to Dracula (played by Nicolas Cage). Yes, that same old cape-wearing vampire from the olden days. But now his hi-jinks are played out in New Orleans, instead of in the Old World. There had been too many monster-hunters and orthodox priests going after Drac back there. They hang out in an old abandoned hospital. Dracula is ready to reopen the ‘Blood Bank’!

Renfield has a terrible position, being the person who needs to cater to Dracula’s every whim. There are fresh victims to find. So he goes to local ‘self-help’ group meetings. He listens to the suffering people, and thinks he is a lot like them. If he could find the inner strength, then he – Renfield – could break away and be on top.

But now the Master calls him, and he trudges to find new bodies on which Dracula can feed. He gets entangled with a local drug/crime ring. This small time “Lobos” mob is led by a lady named Ella Lobo (played by Shohreh Aghdashloo). She runs the town with an Iron Fist. She is especially hard on her wimpy son, Teddy Lobo (played by Ben Schwartz).

This drug-dealing gang is being chased down by the only honest cop not on the Lobo’s payroll. She is Officer Rebecca Quincy (played by Awkwafina). Her father was on the force years ago, and died at the hands of the Lobos. She is ready to take them down, once and for all. But by chance, Renfield shows up as Officer Quincy faces off against hitmen. He is able to step in and use his supernatural super-powers to stop the bad boys.

After Renfield gets some positive reactions for helping save Quincy, he thinks about the self-help group. They are also in bad relationships. If they are strong enough to say ‘No!’ to the bad behavior of others, then he also has the power to turn down Dracula. Of course, the weird fact about eating bugs to gain super-strength, and having mysterious healing powers from Dracula’s blood – it is kinda hard to say ‘No!’ to all of that…

Quincy has her hands full, what with the Lobo gang full out attempting to murder her. But she finds an unlikely ally in Renfield. He does seem to be a changed man, now that he is working out his ‘co-dependency’ issues. But getting Ella Lobo on your trail is not a happy thing. Ella and Teddy find and meet up with Dracula. The Prince of Evil senses that these two can be the muscle that he needs for Total World Domination.

So there will be Bloody Battles featuring Renfield, along with Quincy, facing off. They go against all the goons in the Lobo’s gang joined up with every dirty cop in the New Orleans Police Department. Dracula has dumped Renfield to instead get Teddy Lobo and his nasty gang-leader momma Ella. Drac feels he is now unstoppable. Renfield feels he might have a ‘stake’ in the matter.

“Renfield” takes the ‘monster movie’ genre and turns it on its head, in a funny and ridiculous way. The angle that it takes is showing Renfield as the focal point. It is more common to see Dracula as the main monster. Now it shows Drac for what he really is – a really terrible boss.

Nicholas Hoult does a wonderful job showing that pathetic little weasel of Renfield, and how he wants to get out from behind Dracula’s cape. Nicolas Cage plays Dracula, a role he can really sink his teeth into. Actually, Cage’s performance is very nuanced and smart – but at the same time he is over-the-top. It is fascinating to watch it!

Awkwafina does fine, and does not distract from the movie (too much). As the evil gang leaders, Ben Schwartz and Shohreh Aghdashloo are also good. But these are roles that are not the two lead performances. And that is where the big talent is located. Hoult and Cage are main reasons the movie is as good as it is.

The comedy is very broad, and the gore is quite graphic and over-the-top. It is so far up there that it is like a Chinese ‘weather’ balloon floating over the most secret military bases in the U.S. The movie never lets up for a moment, and the goofy blood-and-guts may not be for all people.

“Renfield” is a funny, wacked-out version of a Horror Movie, in the same manner that “Cocaine Bear” is a version of a Nature Film.