Renfield (2023)

Renfield (2023)

M. Renfield decides he’s finally had enough of his centuries-old career serving as an accomplice to the Count Dracula, eventually seeking out a fresh start in modern-day New Orleans after falling for a tough, albeit somewhat perpetually aggressive, police officer named Rebecca Quincy.

Directed by: Chris McKay
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina...
Release Date: April 14, 2023

IMDb

Trailer.

I finally sat down and watched the film. I suppose it can be quite entertaining, particularly with how they lean into those over-the-top, gory sequences, though I must admit I was expecting a bit more screen time from Cage.

I made it about halfway through before I called it quits.
I really wasn't looking to waste my afternoon on this.
Honestly, I think they missed the mark entirely.
I honestly can't tell who the target audience is supposed to be, let alone what genre we're even watching here.

Everything about this movie feels just... off. The cops don't act like any cliché police officers you'd see in a Hollywood thriller, and the mobsters feel like total nobodies—just aimless. The precinct is mostly filled with middle-aged, stout women and minorities, and none of them actually carry themselves like law enforcement. Then there's the mafia, which is run by a woman, and Renfield—who is supposedly hundreds of years old—acts like some clueless twenty-something trying to decorate his first apartment with cheap IKEA furniture because a self-help guru told him it was "on trend."

It’s clearly aiming for comedy or parody, but for whom? What is it even poking fun at? It’s like they're trying to satirize something, but when you consider how much we've been lacking good movies lately about Dracula, gritty police procedurals, or the struggles of Gen Z, the joke just falls flat.

Cage is fantastic as Dracula, though. He's the only one who actually deserves a solo movie.

Some actors just seriously don't know when to quit...

This comedy is basically just a showcase for a legend’s performance. He absolutely steals every single scene. I was dying! 🤣🤣

A fun movie to pass the time. Cage is just classic Cage. Fun. Totally wild. He basically devoured this one (pun intended). I actually dig how they didn't even try to make it some serious drama. It’s just a grotesque, gory horror comedy and it works pretty well. Not really a rewatchable, though—it isn't trying to push any deep messages. Just effects, action, laughs, and blood. That’s about it.

I just can't get behind this mindless slasher violence and those endless oceans of CGI blood.👎

I was practically counting down the minutes until Cage showed up, or honestly, until the credits finally rolled.

I have to admit, Cage didn't quite hit the mark for me here. It felt as though the script itself threw him off balance, leaving his performance stuck in that awkward limbo between being a caricature and being genuinely unsettling. A real shame.

It’s about as watchable as most of the junk passing for "cinema" these days.
The whole industry is circling the drain. We aren't getting another Gladiator, let alone a new Godfather. It's just a relentless stream of mediocre, half-baked products designed to fill space.

It was okay for a quick watch, I guess, just another one of those weird Cage's roles we've been seeing lately where there's way too much fantasy and CGI blood for a pretty silly concept. Just another attempt at a fun Dracula flick, which isn't exactly groundbreaking or anything.