Rent Renfield (2023)

Great fun - Renfield review by sb

FILM & REVIEW I know the expression Expectations are Low is an oft used one on here but sometimes some thing will suprise you as it’s much better than expected. Houston plays Renfield - Dracula’s long suffering gofer - who takes to attending self-help meeting where people talk about being in a toxic relationship or I live with a monster. You have no idea Renfield ruefully remarks to himself. The reason he is there is Dracula is recovering from a previous encounter with the church so needs victims brought to him and Renfield reasons if he can bring the people causing the self help group misery then so much the better. This however brings him into the orbit of the Lobo’s New Orleans major drug gang who have most the cops on the payroll except for Rebecca (Awkafina). Dracula who is much better now decides rather than merely feed off humanity he wants to dominate it and will use the Lobo’s formidable matriarch (Aghdashloo) to achieve this. The whole thing is huge fun - Hoult very good as he begins to realise he can use all the self help platitudes of the group to free himself with fine support from Akwafina as the bad ass cop and Aghashloo as the take no prisoners gangster . Of course Cage as Dracula dialls it all the way up but can tone it down when required and the whole thing is soaked in comedy gore as bad guys are beheaded, disembodied and generally torn to bits. Subtle it is not but rattles along at full pace for its 90 mins - 4/5

Awful - Renfield review by MB

Plot was almost non existent, actors and acting were unappealing, apart from the sympathetic leader of the self help group, and lots of graphic, pointless violence. The violence isn't my thing which is why I thought I'd be fine with a 15 film, apparently not. I watched it with my 19 year old son, we turned off 15 minutes before the end because we knew where it was going and neither of us cared enough to see....

Unlike this Dracula this film somehow lacks confidence... - Renfield review by Strovey

Nicolas Cage as Dracula is exactly how you imagine it. Over-the-top more evil-Nicolas-Cage than the Lord of Evil but somehow very entertaining rather than grating. It is certainly not just any actor who can do this.

Pair this Dracula with a foil played by the ever-reliable and consistent Nicholas Hoult jumping right back in where Warm Bodies left off back in 2013 and if nothing else you will have a watchable film. Make the run time a tad over 90 minutes and you have a good formula.

Awkwafina plays a major role in an extremely similar level to everything I have so far seen her in, not necessarily a bad thing in the circumstances, but as her career progresses it would be interesting to see her branch out. Interestingly enough not a hint of a romantic subplot in the story whereas most films of this type tend to dump one. Her human foil is Ben Schwartz playing Teddy Lobo the master criminal’s slightly less ‘masterly’ son and he gives a good reliable Ben Schwartz display. So the main characters are solid, planted, and do not take anything away from the film.

The film is silly, this being no revelation, and so gory that there is no shock value as the violence is definitely Tom and Jerry level. Normally I am not a big fan of non-stop violent action that always seems to outstay its welcome but here the kinetic action whilst silly and defying any, even perfunctory, logic just about held together for me.

Whilst the acting and silliness are okay in this type of film it is difficult to figure out what the makers are trying to say. Clearly, the very small underlying message is toxic relationships but that, like everything here, is played entirely for laughs. The horror side of it is truly violently gory and death-filled but the makers lose their nerve and everything seems to get tied up too conveniently, and more important happily, which is disappointing.

Plot holes? There are plenty but perhaps pointing them out is churlish. It did seem strange that the writers, Robert Kirman amongst them, used the footage from 1931s Dracula and seemed willing to follow the rules set down by Browning’s kick-starter of this filmatic lore, but near the end, the rules are thrown out to suit the ‘happy’ ending. A more nihilistic finish might have been better but maybe less audience pleasing.

Nit-picking points aside Renfield is a scenery-chewing, blood-fuelled, romp through an imagined relationship of Dracula and Renfield in the modern world that is not derailed by being too long and out-staying its welcome to become tedious. I have a feeling the comedic non-logical take on it this subject might be the only way to approach this topic nowadays.