Review of Renfield (2023) by Tvjerry — 18 Apr 2023

Nicholas Hoult plays the titular character, Dracula's familiar, who does his bidding, including bringing him bodies to drain. He visits a support group for help ridding himself of the toxic, co-dependent relationship, but things go horribly wrong.

There's lots of blood spattered around with body parts flying thru the air. In an attempt to render the action intense, director Chris McKay has shot it in a blur, so much of the good stuff is undetectable.

The decision to tell the backstory in classic Bella Lugosi style is a visual treat. Hoult retains his usual bedeviled charm, but it's Nicolas Cage who makes the movie. He's having so much fun and creates a delightfully evil but manically inspired vampire.

While the prospect is better than the result, there's still sufficient violent bloodshed (although never scary) and comic moments to make this movie fun.