"Renfield" a sloppy but fairly likable horror-comedy with Nic Cage slurping up scenery

Renfield (2023)

There’ve been countless movies about Dracula—and countless actors donning the cape and the fangs—but has there ever been one about the Count’s loyal assistant? “Renfield” is just that, with an adorable Nicholas Hoult as the titular Renfield, but it has one other big selling point. It’s the can’t-miss prospect of having Nicolas Cage—the other Coppola that didn’t direct “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”—as the most famous bloodsucker, even 35 years later after “Vampire’s Kiss.” When the Renfield-Dracula relationship is in the sunlight, “Renfield” hits the ground running, and when it has to make room for paper-thin, dramatically empty filler, it feels a little slapdash.

To every Nic is another Nic. In flustered, straight-man mode, Nicholas Hoult is an endearing foil to Nicolas Cage as Dracula’s “familiar,” Robert Montague Renfield. He’s a codependent, tired of doing the dirty work for his master. After centuries of doing the monster's bidding, Renfield finds a support group, led by Mark (Brandon Scott Jones, always a hoot). But once Dracula discovers where his servant has been hanging, he gets invited in, only for all hell to break loose. Like the once-hip trend of putting a sword in the hands of fairy tale princesses, Renfield is also kind of a superhero, getting superpowers and punching off heads after munching on bugs. Paying homage in black-and-white to the greats before him (Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, and Christopher Lee), Cage somehow makes this Dracula his own. He’s gloriously slurping up the scenery and having a blast doing it, but also taking the role completely seriously with just the right touch of camp.

Since this clever idea wasn’t just made into a short, there needs to be more plot. Enter Rebecca Quincy (Aquafina), a no-nonsense police officer following in the footsteps of her late father and seeking revenge. She uncovers a city conspiracy connected to a New Orleans crime family, led by Ella (Shohreh Aghdashloo, who was born to play a crime boss in various pantsuits) and her obnoxious, lunatic son (a live-wire Ben Schwartz). Since Renfield is decent at heart, he and Rebecca team up. This isn’t inherently a bad idea, and Aquafina earns laughs with her comically exasperated delivery and lively persona, but her thread feels wedged-in and undernourished, particularly the stuff with her FBI agent sister, played by Camille Chen. Put everything together and this feels more like two different movies competing for attention than a seamless genre blend. 

“Renfield” does very much feel like a rough draft on screen. It’s often a frantic, sloppy, rushed editorial mess. So much of Renfield’s “we should probably start at the beginning…” voice-over narration feels clunky and tacked-on in post. Or, is it a nod to Nicholas Hoult’s R in “Warm Bodies”? It does set the zippy energy director Chris McKay (2017's "The LEGO Batman Movie") and writer Ryan Ridley are aiming for, but there is a glaring suspicion that “Renfield” was sliced and diced by the studio. Like, a girl’s got to eat, but what is genre stalwart Caroline Williams doing in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her role at a police station?

There's a funnier, punchier, and Cage-ier version somewhere, but as directed with a lot of get-up-and-go by Chris McKay, this unapologetically R-rated horror-comedy has a delightfully colorful look and the sporadically funny aside. There’s a ska running joke that’s just strange and unexpected enough to be amusing. One loony, explosively gory action set-piece in the multi-level landing of Renfield’s shabby apartment building is even an inspired show-stopper. With enough fun to be had from the devilishly charming performances and so many exploding bodies, “Renfield” is fairly likable entertainment, even if it goes poof from your memory as soon as the sun comes up.

Grade: B -

Universal Pictures is releasing “Renfield” (93 min.) in theaters on April 14, 2023.