Movies
“Renfield” Is Demented, Deranged And A Great Bloody Surprise
Time to totally shut your brain off and enjoy a ton of mindless bloody violence. Yup, that is what Renfield (2023) is. You totally were expecting that, right?
“Renfield, Dracula’s henchman and inmate at the lunatic asylum for decades, longs for a life away from the Count, his various demands, and all of the bloodshed that comes with them.”
Director: Chris McKay
Writers: Ryan Ridley, Robert Kirkman, Ava Tramer
Staring: Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz
Release Date: April 14, 2023
IMDB
Time to totally shut your brain off and enjoy a ton of mindless bloody violence. Yup, that is what Renfield (2023) is. You totally were expecting that, right?
Renfield is a comedy action movie with the backdrop of a horror legend Dracula looming for hilarious context. Nicolas Cage takes on the secondary role as the vampiric hall-of-famer while Nicholas Hoult claims the majority of the screen time as Dracula’s eternal assistant, Renfield.
The emotional state of Renfield is staked by his attendance to a self-help group about toxic relationships. At first Renfield is a listener to everyone else’s misery, but the scrawny, strangely dressed man gets a new lease on life when he sees traffic cop Rebecca (Awkwafina) stand up to the supremely over-confident gang member Tedward Lobo (Ben Schwartz). There is a light that goes off in Renfield’s head; he can do nice things, and feel nice about himself. Wow, what a concept!
Renfield starts to shift his lifestyle away from murder and body collecting, and that doesn’t agree with Dracula’s plans for world domination. Renfield’s finale pins Renfield and Rebecca against Dracula and the Lobo family mob. The movie keeps its fun, violent, gory and and inventive mindset all the way to its conclusion. Nothing can brace you for what Renfield is, but by the end you’ll be gleefully cheering the inventive ways bad men are decapitated.
Renfield prides itself from being exactly what you don’t expect. Sure, Nicolas Cage is in it and therefore you know it is going to be a little out there. But his antithesis is Nicholas Hoult, who often plays the awkward quiet eccentric man. It really is perfect casting in terms of two actors with definitive styles that both mesh but have distinct differences. Hoult ramps up his own style but adds in bug-eating super powers to spice things up. When I say that Hoult makes human dismembering with fine china thoroughly entertaining, I 100% mean it.
The shock value of what is happening on the screen is often shown through Rebecca. Renfield has the perfect amount of Awkwafina. The Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021) has short stints on screen that add extra sprinkles of comedic relief. Her reactions to Renfield and his ability to deal out violence are soft, which helps the audience accept the absurdity that is happening on screen.
Cage is the draw for Renfield. One of Hollywood’s weirdest actors puts his spin of weirdness on the blood-sucking icon. Cage takes the part much like how Jim Carrey would; embracing the body language component and not being afraid of going too far. Dracula is not a good guy, but in Renfield it is impossible not to get lassoed in by a bit of his portrayer’s charisma. Cage doesn’t often take secondary roles, but in Renfield he embraces it.
We can’t move past the performances without mentioning Ben Schwartz. He by no means is The Worstttttttt part of Renfield. Schwartz and Awkwafina have fantastic banter with both actors amping their mannerisms up to eleven to keep up the absurdity that is the premise of Renfield.
The zaniness of the story is captured by director Chris McKay. McKay has lots of experience in comedy both in the TV and movie realm, but his most recent project was the Amazon Prime action original The Tomorrow War (2021). Renfield takes what he learned from that experience and blends it with his taste for amusement. I think Mckay has a bit of a macabre sense of humor. He may sit in bed at night and think of the best ways for a meaningless henchman to die.
Because of its over-the-top nature, Renfield can be a divisive movie to recommend to someone. You have to know that someone is going to be okay with the deranged sense of humor and demented violence. If you can embrace what Renfield is then it can be one of the most surprising movies of 2023. I for one had no idea it would be as fun as it is, and now I’ll be looking to flaunt it to whomever I think will enjoy it.
As of August 2023, Renfield is streaming on Peacock.
STANKO RATING: B
Ranking The Mission: Impossible Films: #7 – Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023)
There is a lot happening in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. One could argue that there is too much going on.
Ranking The Mission: Impossible Films: #8 – Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Much maligned as the worst of the Mission: Impossible franchise, Mission: Impossible II doesn’t do itself any favors upon rewatch.
Four Shorty Reactions: “MaXXXine” (2024), “Monkey Man” (2024), “Raising Arizona” (1987), “Scoop” (2024)
MaXXXine (2024) “In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Hollywood, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.” Director: Ti WestWriter: Ti WestCast: Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Halsey, Lily Collins, Kevin Bacon, Bob Cannavale, Michelle…
Stanko's Stance 
29 Comments »