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Like zombie movies, we go into vampire movies with a little bit of trepidation. Not because we’re scared, but because there’s very little that hasn’t been shown or said about vampires already. We’ve had twinkly vampires, superhero vampires, energy vampires, young vampires and thoroughly ancient vampires. No matter what spin or perspective you put on your vampire movie, it’s likely we’ve seen it, or something like it.
Renfield starts off on a strong foot by making Nicolas Cage its Dracula. Even if it’s going to be a rote vamp film, it’s going to be a rote vamp film with Nicolas Cage as the vampire, and that means – likely very literal – scenery chewing. When he’s given some substance to work with, Mr Cage has been shown to be completely compelling (see Mandy, Pig, Colour Out of Space), and Renfield isn’t short of substance.
But while Renfield has the trump card of Nicolas Cage as Dracula, it doesn’t need to overplay it. Because it has something better: a concept that feels fresh, and a Zombieland-like tongue in its cheek.
Renfield’s focus isn’t Dracula: it’s the titular Renfield, played by Nicholas Hoult. He’s Dracula’s familiar, the one who has to find the purest victims for his master, and has to mop up the mess afterwards. When vampire hunters find Dracula, he stays to the side, waits for Dracula to win, then nurses him back to health, perhaps even relocating the lair so that Drac doesn’t become uncovered again. He’s a handyman, nanny and butler, rolled into one, and Dracula doesn’t respect him for it one bit.
Renfield has great fun doing some world-building around familiars. In its universe, familiars live as long as their masters, so they are indentured servants for centuries. They also carry a fraction of the power of a vampire: by eating insects (no humans for Renfield), they gain a moment of superhero strength, before snapping back to being useless. Renfield carries a matchbox with beetles and centipedes in, just in case he gets into bother.
But it has greater fun rooting the relationship between Renfield and Dracula in the modern day. It’s a clearly toxic relationship, so Renfield begins to go to meetings for similarly abused, gaslit and co-dependent partners. He’s taught that Dracula is a narcissist, and he should end the relationship as soon as possible. But that’s difficult when you have a psychic link that puts you in contact with Nicolas Cage at all times.
Still, Renfield attempts to sever that centuries-long connection and forge a life for himself. It goes about as well as you’d expect, and the resulting slow-motion car crash of a break-up becomes a singularity that attracts gang members, corrupt police and the ‘co-dependents anonymous’ themselves. Renfield has surprisingly weighty themes of ending imbalance relationships and having the strength to strike out alone.
This plot unravels in a surprisingly funny fashion. Our touchstone was constantly Zombieland, as that movie did for zombies what Renfield does for vampires. There’s a reinvention of the genre in there, as well as a wink and a nudge to the camera. Nicholas Hoult’s narration is much like Jesse Eisenberg’s in Zombieland, as the harsh realities of being a familiar is laid out matter of factly. They would make for a great double-bill.
You probably won’t expect how gory and lurid Renfield is, however. Arms and heads are lopped off in improbable fountains of blood. The characters themselves seem to be surprised by just how grisly everything goes down. Renfield finds strength he doesn’t know he has, and ends up killing people in increasingly ludicrous ways. So, be wary: while we found it hilarious, you’ve got to be okay with some giblets dangling off the frame of the screen.
A note to the battle choreography. Renfield is a surprisingly action-packed movie, and while the action is often played for laughs, the creators always make sure that – as a baseline – it gets the adrenaline pumping. Sequences last far longer than you might expect, almost to John Wick levels, and it absolutely holds up as an action rollercoaster.
But it’s not perfect by any means. The writer and director found some things more interesting than we did. A romantic subplot with Awkafinwa playing Rebecca, a straight-as-an-arrow cop, never manages to feel believable or particularly interesting. Nicholas Hoult feels like he’s doing a Hugh Grant impression, which is very possible since they shared so much screen time in About A Boy. And you may well emerge feeling that Nicolas Cage was criminally underused. He’s having so, so much fun here, but he’s hidden away or rejuvenating for large chunks of the film, and the tempo lifts whenever he’s on screen.
Bored of vampire movies? Renfield is just the tonic. It shakes up the formula until it froths over with gore, action set pieces and delicious subversion. Plus you get Nicolas Cage as Dracula. It might not be the most cerebral of movies, but Renfield manages to make a vampire movie that feels unfamiliar by – ironically – focusing on familiars.