Just because we critics spend most of our lives sitting\ninside dark rooms and watching somber dramas doesn\u2019t mean that we don\u2019t enjoy a\ngood laugh once in a while. The central concept of Renfield<\/em> is an\nextremely funny one, telling the story of Dracula\u2019s assistant and the young\nman\u2019s attempts to end the toxic relationship with his master. The movie is a\ngraphic and over-the-top bloodbath and while the story does get distracted by\nsubplots and not every joke ends up hitting the mark, there are more than enough\ngags that do land to make for an enjoyably campy and amusing time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Life is extremely difficult for R. M. Renfield (Nicholas\nHoult). After agreeing to serve for eternity as familiar to Count Dracula\n(Nicolas Cage), he is given a fraction of the vampire\u2019s powers. While the\nallure may have initially tempted him down this strange path, after centuries\nhe is regretting his choice. Simply put, Dracula is violent and miserable to be\naround, especially when wounded and in need of fresh blood. To collect plasma for\nhis weakened master, Renfield arrives in New Orleans and attends a support\ngroup for those in abusive relationships, hoping that attendees will point him\ntowards worthy victims. But as he starts listening to their stories, he wonders\nif he isn\u2019t also in need of personal freedom. As he ponders his options, he\nbefriends traffic cop Rebecca Quincey (Awkwafina) and must contend with local\ncriminal leaders Teddy Lobo (Ben Schwartz) and Bellafrancesca Lobo (Shohreh\nAghdashloo).<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the idea for this feature may have been written by\nRobert Kirkman (who created the comic-book series The Walking Dead<\/em>),\nthis effort is intentionally silly from beginning to end. The intent here is\nnot to terrify, but rather present a series of increasingly exaggerated and\noutrageous events as the lead character attempts to rid himself of the burden\nof Dracula. While there are other subplots, the central one is the strongest.\nIn fact, even more time would have been spent developing this thread.\nRenfield\u2019s interactions with support group members work so well that a few\nbattles between the lead and the gangs feels superfluous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But at least all of the cast are excellent and appear to be\nhaving a great time. Hoult is an empathetic lead who manages to keep the\nclassic character\u2019s less-appealing qualities at bay, while Cage channels Bela\nLugosi and milks every scene for maximum impact. Bits in which the\nless-than-impressed vampire has to listen to Renfield lecture him about his\nhurtful behavior from a self-help book are nothing short of a blast to watch.\nAnd with Universal Pictures behind this production, the filmmakers have also\nbeen allowed to insert their stars into some classic backdrops from the\noriginal 1931 Dracula<\/em> during the introduction, resulting in some big\nlaughs. Additionally, Awkwafina also has plenty of fun moments fighting off\nmobsters and reacting to her unusual potential love interest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As mentioned, the level of violence on display is\nsurprisingly high, with limbs and other body parts being regularly ripped off\nand hurled across rooms at a moment\u2019s notice. Many of these effects are\ncomputer-generated and don\u2019t always look photo-realistic, which in this case\nthe approach actually works as a benefit. The geysers of blood would be\ndisturbing, but as presented maintain the light tone and look phony enough to\nkeep any stomachs from churning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Admittedly, there is a bit of a slapdash feel to the\nproceedings, the movie does seem to want to emphasize action in its second half\nand not every attempt at humor lands. But the central concept of Renfield\ntaking note of his unhealthy relationship and using modern techniques to\nexpress himself to Dracula, as well as other gags derived from this concept is\na blast to watch. The cast are charismatic and appear to be enjoying\nthemselves, making it difficult not to have a good time as a viewer. Renfield<\/em>\nis flamboyant, silly and ultimately leaves its mark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Running Time: 93 minutes This film from Universal Pictures will open exclusively at theaters on April 14th. Just because we critics spend most of our lives sitting inside dark rooms and watching somber dramas doesn\u2019t mean that we don\u2019t enjoy a good laugh once in a while. The central concept of Renfield is an extremely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":26341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[213,697,2114,4660,6222,9319,14787,14792,16874,16876,18305,23571,23665],"class_list":["post-26336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-213","tag-action","tag-awkwafina","tag-comedy","tag-dracula","tag-horror","tag-nicholas-cage","tag-nicholas-hoult","tag-renfield","tag-renfield-review","tag-shohreh-aghdashloo","tag-universal-pictures","tag-vampire"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Renfield-02-fixed.jpg\")
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