Thursday, December 12, 2024

RENFIELD (2023) ***

Nicolas Cage has already starred in the definitive vampire comedy, Vampire’s Kiss.  Because of that, appearing in this horror-comedy reboot of Dracula seems a little like overkill.  After about five minutes you realize that overkill is the name of the game as blood spews everywhere and bodies explode into tiny pieces.  I guess if you’re gonna go over the top, you might as well hang ten. 

The film has a neat conceit.  Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) has been serving Dracula for close to a hundred years and the Count has put him through so much that he has to go to therapy.  He goes to a group session that specializes in toxic relationships and uses the members’ awful abusers to feed his boss.  When Renfield meets a spunky cop played by Awkwafina he gets the courage to stand up to the Count. 

Director Chris (The Lego Batman Movie) McKay is obviously having fun with the concept.  The recreations of the 1931 original with Cage doing a spot-on Lugosi are fantastic.  I kinda wish there was more of these scenes, but it’s obvious all involved wanted to push the story forward instead. 

However, it’s only half successful.  While the stuff with Hoult and Cage is great fun, the unnecessary subplot with Awkwafina trying to arrest the Mob family responsible for her father’s demise is just baffling.  I will say that having a vampire engage in Hong Kong-style fight scenes is kinda neat (there’s even a nod to The Street Fighter).  It’s just that whenever her character is onscreen, it drags the entire movie down. 

The idea of a Dracula movie from Renfield’s point of view is ingenious.  I just don’t know who thought adding a bunch of mobsters and a dull cop revenge subplot was a good idea.  I mean you have Nic Cage as Dracula!  I can understand putting him in the background to focus on Renfield, but to just forget about him completely while all the cops and robbers bullshit plays out is befuddling to say the least. 

Cage occasionally sways back into his Vampire’s Kiss accent (particularly while in his burn make-up) but that’s forgivable, especially when he cranks it up to 11 on some of his line deliveries.  (“I AM THE REAL VICTIM HERE!”)  Hoult is a good foil for him and the chemistry is there between them.  I just wish the movie wasn’t so concerned with the lame Mob plot and allowed the both of them to truly shine. 

The gore is pretty inventive and frequently funny.  I mean we’ve all seen movies where a guy gets his arm ripped off and it’s then used as a weapon.  This is the first movie where a guy’s arm is ripped off and it’s used to impale another guy to the wall. 

So, when Renfield works, it’s a home run.  When it doesn’t, it’s kind of a mess.  All the stuff with Awkwafina’s storyline is mid at best.  However, when the blood is flying, and Cage is chewing the scenery, Renfield is damn near irresistible. 

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