Renfield

When it comes to horror films, the ganddaddy of them all has to be Universal Pictures' "Dracula" 1931. Although there has been a bevy of incarnations since that time, it being the original simply makes it worthy of being the best. One perspective that has been overlooked in that film is that of Renfield, his assistant, which this film, "Renfield" is about, which makes this an interesting slant into the character of Dracula.

In this modern monster tale of Count Dracula's loyal servant, R.M. Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), the tortured aide to history's most narcissistic boss, Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage), Renfield is forced to procure his master's prey and do his every bidding no matter how debased. But now, after centuries of servitude, Renfield is ready to see if there's life outside the shadow of the Prince of Darkness, if only he can figure out how to end his codependency. Renfield finds a new lease on life in modern day New Orleans when he falls in love with a feisty but perennially aggressive traffic cop named Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina). 

Others to round out the cast are Ben Schwartz as Teddy Lobo, Shohreh Ashdashloo as Bella Francesca Lobo, Teddy's mother, Brandon Scott Jones as Mark, Adrian Martinez as Chris, Camille Chen as Kate, Bess Rous as Caitlyn and Jenna Kanell as Carol.

This was directed with wit, adrenaline and humor by Chris McKay ("2wks, 1yr.) '02, "Robot Chicken: Star Wars III" (TV movie) '10, "The Lego Batman Movie" '17, "The Tomorrow War" '21) plus TV, a short and a video. The film being a mere 93 minute running time, McKay's pacing and timing was not only strategic, but effective as well. This film moved right along which made for an intriguing expose of the Dracula phenomenon. This filmmaker doesn't have a ton of feature film experience, but after this, he will receive more work. He has a great deal of TV experience which can and did serve him, but having him behind the camera more will only make him that much of an even better director. It was also brilliantly written by Ryan Ridley ("Our Footloose Remake" '11, "Dog World" (TV movie) '12, "Our RoboCop Remake" '14) plus TV and shorts and Robert Kirkman (TV, videos and a short). Considering the lack of experience of these writers, especially in the feature film writing part of the biz,these two produced a concise, tight, slickly written version of the very old franchise with a totally different spin--a look at the situation seen through the assistant's, Renfield's eyes. Really, besides a couple of very small areas of continuity issues, this script was spot on. And, mind you, it is rated 'R' for a reason--there is so much blood in this of people being killed, dismembered, etc, that I did have to turn my head at least once, but this about Dracula and involves a mafia mob family. Shall I go on? The special makeup effects by Tinsley Studios were effective as they were realistic. Cage as Dracula and Hoult as Renfield were perfectly cast, and others were effective in their supporting roles as well. 

If you're a fan of the Dracula 'genre', you will like this, because being a fan, those fans certainly have gotten to know the Renfield character and probably believe, as I do, that we should be able to get to know Renfield as well as the Dracula character, and this film clearly gives us that opportunity and then some. This is a great popcorn, escapism film!

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                         Rated: R                                               93mins.