Nicolas Cage’s new horror comedy would be good if it were 78 minutes shorter

What if you’d like to quit because the work environment has become increasingly toxic, but you can’t because you has worked for Count Dracula for centuries and is responsible for the fact that he regularly gets fresh blood between the long teeth? Renfield’s protagonist (Nicholas Hoult) faces a seemingly insurmountable problem. Things get even more complicated when he meets a chaotic police officer who is investigating the most powerful gang in town – but in the midst of the chaos lies a golden opportunity for the desperate employee. Renfield’s bloodsucking boss just doesn’t want to know what he’s planning.

Nicolas Cage reprises a potentially legendary vampire role 35 years after Vampire’s Kiss. a better reason from May 25, 2023 storming into the nearest cinema isn’t really possible – is it? Well, I thought so too. Before I saw the Chris McKay horror comedy.

The Good: The toxic relationship between Nicolas Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as Renfield

What good is immortality if you can only eke it out in blood-caked shadows? How do a mystical monster like Count Dracula and his bug-eating minion fit into the 21st century? What’s the place of vampires in a world where there aren’t many bat-infested castles left, but everyone has an Instagram account? The series What We Do in the Shadows (based on the incredibly good film 5 Zimmer Küche Sarg) finds entertaining and touching answers.

Renfield the film starts with an image that also feels fresh: Renfield the servant visits one Support group for victims of abusive relationships. Ostensibly to find new involuntary blood donors for his master (the abusive perpetrators). Actually, he is also in a toxic relationship – just with Dracula. And after several centuries of living together, he too slowly but surely understands that the whole thing is no longer good for him.

Watch the final trailer of Renfield here:

The dynamic between Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult is the throbbing aorta of horror comedy. Cage’s Dracula pulls out all the stops to manipulate his Renfield. He, in turn, secretly rents a motley apartment and tries to reinvent himself as a positive, life-affirming Dulli. There’s tension there, there’s conflict, it’s really, really funny and – in its absurd exaggeration of real relationship patterns – it also hurts a bit.

Unfortunately, these scenes make up what feels like 15 minutes of the film. But since Renfield has a running time of 93 minutes, that means 78 minutes that have to be filled with something else. And with that “something,” the filmmakers seem to have put as much effort into it as Renfield did trying to find an entire cheerleading team for his vampiric boss. (Spoilers: little.)

The bad thing about horror comedy Renfield: (Almost) everything else

The subplot, which is taking up more and more space, goes something like this: New Orleans is firmly in the hands of the Lobo Gang, whose complete work is on the dots Cocaine dealing, torture and being beaten up in silly animal masks can be reduced. Police officer Rebecca (Awkwafina) has vowed to bring down the Lobos. After all, they are responsible for their father’s death. By chance, she meets Renfield, who supports her in a bar fight against the Lobos. They become friends and decide to help each other.

But corrupt colleagues stand in their way, as does a completely stupid script that lets its characters stumble from one action sequence pregnant with artificial blood to the next, which are only slightly interrupted by wooden nonsense dialogues on the level of student films.

The motivation of the characters who have one remains largely a claim. Tedward Lobo (Ben Schwartz) wants to position himself as a future gang boss by working with Dracula. Screenwriter Ryan Ridley doesn’t seem to care why exactly and what the concrete plan is here. Towards the end of the film, police officer Rebecca repeatedly mentions offers that she would have turned down because she was too focused on her Revenge campaign against the Lobos shot. We have to believe that because the film doesn’t show us any of that.

No moral quandary, no real despair, no way for actors or audience to feel anything. Instead, everything has to be equally silly—whether it’s an entertaining splatter fight, emotional speaking out, or moments when victims talk about their experiences with an abusive partner.

Trash is good when it knows and celebrates being trash. Renfied, on the other hand, is so convinced of his own wit, so intoxicated by it modern vampire tale with stick-on scarface cosplayers wearing tattoos to say that the film ends up feeling like the pauses it throws in after every obviously constructed joke: agonizingly long despite its brevity and no one laughs.

Better to watch: Even after 20 years, Buffy still inspires with horror, fantasy and humor

20 years after the finale, we look back at the acclaimed fantasy series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which continues to show its influence today. You can currently stream it on Disney+.

We explore what made Buffy so special as a series, reminisce about the best episodes and favorite characters, and also discuss the Angel spin-off and plans for a fantasy reboot.

*. . .