It’s amazing how widespread the marketing of products has gotten. This out-of-the-box thinking has gone far beyond billboards and television ads to everything from soda cans to viral marketing. Recently, my wife I and I took a much-needed vacation, and as we were at the airport going through the normal security checks, I looked into the bin where I had to put my personal belongings and saw an ad for Chris McKay’s new film, Renfield. I actually got to see this film after we got back, so let’s get into it.
Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) is a familiar (a person who is an assistant to a vampire) for the famous Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage) for over a century, traveling the world to keep their identities as secret as possible due to the long string of murders they have committed together for Dracula’s needs. This part of their story is set in modern day New Orleans as Renfield is starting to feel unappreciated, and with the help of a support group he starts to distance himself from Dracula. At the same time, Dracula gets more violent and plans to take over the world while Renfield meets up with police officer Rebecca (Awkwafina) as they tangle with a crime family whose mother-and-son team in Bellafrancesca (Shohreh Aghadeshloo) and Teddy (Ben Schwartz) are trying to re-establish their stranglehold on the city.
I will get straight to the point here: this film was fun for me overall, both having its own flavor while mixing a lot of different things that came before it. The violence is overflowing here (which is to be expected), but it does so in a way that even makes someone getting dismembered fun and exciting. The violence and body count is high on a Saving Private Ryan level, but it works. Overall, Renfield reminds me of Shaun of the Dead substituting vampires for zombies, and even though I found it to be predictable, it also has some fun twists and turns.
Hoult and a lot of the cast does well here, but I was actually surprised by Awkwafina who is normally just “one of those actors” but stands out in this film. Cage takes his portrayal a tad too far to the point where he had specific dental work done for the vampire teeth along with three hours a day in makeup which enhanced his method acting taken on set. That being said, I enjoyed his role, but if you do not like violent films, stay away from this one or be aware what you are getting into, so I will recommend it as a twilight showing in the theaters.
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