Renfield - A Movie Review

I need to escape the reign of Dracula.

Renfield sunk its fangs into theaters in 2023. Dracula’s slave, Renfield has suffered for decades under the vampire’s demanding power. Longing for his life back, Renfield teams up with a cop to escape this toxic relationship.

Watching Renfield made me realize that I should rewatch Dracula (1931). Creating stories from existing material promotes fun ideas. I wasn’t anticipating enjoying Renfield as much as I did. Nor was I expecting the extreme bloody violence. Renfield has fun being what it is, however, the film didn’t construct a concise story.

Playing Dracula has been a lifelong dream of Nicolas Cage. He does not disappoint. Cage’s performance is the best! I could tell he was having the time of his life making his dream role happen. He conquered the demonic personality, adding creative touches to this famous character.

Except, this film is more about Renfield than the famous vampire. Having been afflicted under Dracula’s reign, Renfield is done. Nicholas Hault was excellent in the role, exhibiting range and great comedic delivery. Hault and Cage were spectacular in all of their scenes.

Awkwafina was great in her trademark humor. She also had dramatic moments. Hoult and Awkwafina supplied the best of laughs. That aside, Awkwafina’s story didn’t suit Renfield. Playing a cop, Rebecca seeks vengeance for the murder of her father. This scenario didn’t fit in with the atmosphere of a Dracula movie.

On that note, Renfield isn’t sure what its story is. The main story is about Renfield trying to escape, but the writers added a mobster subplot along with a cop scenario. Vampires, cops, and mobsters don’t mix.

Tedward and Bellafrancesa (Ben Schwartz and Shohreh Aghdashloo) made goofy villains. Schwartz was great as Tedward but his character never felt necessary. Their scenario felt like a different movie. Dracula is the main villain. Dracula deserved more screen time.

Deserving a stronger edit, the movie was choppy, occupying missing components. Another character turns out to be a surprise villain. That never goes anywhere. After the reveal. they disappear.

The support group was my favorite portion of the movie. Given a fair share of screen time, the ensemble who played various members of the group were all funny. Renfield raises awareness about toxic relationships. This movie supports anyone who is/has experienced unhealthy relationships.

Chris McKay directed Renfield as over-the-top and campy. There’s also an endearing quality to it. It’s a fun time! Except, the story is all over the place. McKay should have enforced one idea rather than tossing in every idea from the writer's team.

Editing scenes from the original Dracula (1931) was a clever touch. I confess that I didn’t know who Renfield was. Watching the recap helped give me a better understanding of the story. With this addition, it also markets the original film. Let’s keep older films in the mainstream.

Before seeing Renfield you should know something. It is violent. Gory violent. So gory-bloody-violent that you are not going to believe what you see. People’s innards spill out, heads roll, and body parts get slashed in pieces. My mouth hung up at what I witnessed. Makeup also achieves gruesome effects, like one character’s nasty burn scars.

Renfield contains too many scenes depicting violence. The violence took away from the story. Why have films become so violent lately? Films need to step back from exposing violence in movies, especially with current events in the world.

I recommend that you research the gore before watching Renfield. You’ll have a fun time seeing it in theaters.