Renfield

MOVIE #2,167 • SCORE 5/10 • 11.28.24
SERIES: NICOLAS CAGE A-Z ACTOR FOCUS (Ch. 73)


This film is a mess. That it's a mess on purpose doesn't necessarily fix that problem, and — perhaps, in fact— hinders it further. The Cage camp (easily the best element) seems detached from the jokey comedy and garish CGI ultra violence. This is like three different movies playing at once. As I've been doing with new(ish) Cage films, I'm not gonna do the video plot recap review (at this juncture). Instead I recorded a short podcast above and I will post the warts-and-all transcript here as well (for some reason):

All right, I'm recording this as part of the Nicholas Cage. Filmography review series. Uh it's one of the newer films that I'm not. Comfortable with kind of, you know, finding an old Dusty copy of it somewhere online. Editing out Clips in the typical plot heavy fashion that I've been doing.

So I'm going to write up a small review for this but also give it this accompanying. Short podcast review that I will also pull a transcript from to potentially use At some point as well. Uh, this movie is a It's the kind of film that that I going in.

Oh, it's cage playing Dracula, it's really violent. Um, there's a lot of elements, just if you're describing the film to somebody that sound really great like this, this could be really interesting. This could be a lot or if not interesting could be a lot of fun on a stupid level.

But the movie doesn't really work. Uh because because it the one the only way I best I can describe it is that it feels like it's three films kind of happening over the top of one another. At the same time, you've got what cage is doing? Which is, which is the best part of the movie.

By far, he's doing a really campy. Uh, portrayal of Dracula. I think he described it as Warhol. Although I don't see. I don't I think that's how he described. His he was basing it on or he was he was inspired by Andy Warhol in this. Maybe I'm getting that quote wrong but I could have swore.

I heard that, I don't really see that but that's a classic kind of like cage says something and you're just like, okay, I don't really know how you got. That's his interpretation of Andy Warhol, but maybe it makes sense in his brain, which I guess is the point here.

But then you have this really kind of Heavy joke-based comedy and I didn't I didn't find it funny at all. And then on top of that you have what is just complete and utter ultra violence and it's all CGI ultra violence. And and there's this there's a garish kind of neon Hue and glow to this film.

That's, you know, clearly like a Nicholas winding ref and kind of, you know, mode of like aesthetic that they're sort of in it because but it's such a comedy that it's sort of like, well is even just the look of this film, are they trying to be funny with the look of the film?

But you've got these. This joke-based comedy. You've got the cage is doing with the campiness. Look at that camp and then you've got the ultra violence and just it's a CGI hell of ultra violence. And so you have all those things kind of playing at once. Maybe you get away with two of those elements, kind of counteracting as like a juxtaposition, but you the fact that all three of those are happening at once.

Is is just creates a tonal mess. Um, So I, yeah, and and Aquafina who I generally like in Ben Schwartz, is that his name, benchwardz who I generally like to I think is, um, Decent in this. As well I'm sorry. What's his name Ben Schwartz? Yeah I got that.

Right and Nicole Nicholas Holt is fine and Nichols is almost like a cardboard box. It just kind of like at this point I feel like you put them in anything. He's sort of like, you're just like, oh, that's Nicholas Holt again. He's fine. He's, he's, that's all he needs to be in this movie because he's this straight man to The both, both the camping, the campiness of cage and also just the comedy of Schwartz and Aquafina playing off one another um, you know, in in various scenes and set settings, you know they don't Aquafina doesn't share the screen.

The screen with cage too much she mostly is working alongside Schwartz and uh, Holt But um, Yeah, I I didn't love this movie and I I don't know if I wanted to Um, I guess I really, I did want it to like, it more than I did. Because, like, I said, it seemed Seems like a real funny kind of movie.

On the surface. The director also did the tomorrow War which was that, was it a Netflix film? Or was on some of this one of the streamers? Maybe, maybe Prime. Uh, with What's that dude's name? Chris Pratt sci-fi movie, I don't know. Yeah, I wanted to like this movie better but it just sadly, I did not and uh, that happened.

Sometimes I don't think I have anything else to say about it. Oh, the one thing I want to just quickly mention that this is not quite the Mandela effect, but in my head forever, I thought it was Rhine reinfeld I I somehow got the got. It's Ren field, not reinfeld.

I don't know for forever in my brain. This character who I've known about, you know, just in the lore of Dracula, um, Was was spelled I thought it was Ryan Reinfeld not Renfield, and it was just like, I kept Googling the movie and I would type in Ryan. Feld and then I eventually figured out I was like, oh, it's Renfield.

Does it was that? That's it can't be in a Mandela effect. If it only happens to one person though, right? Uh, Yeah. Oh, and cage was in it. More than I thought. That's another kind of plus, I guess the movie, but I still only give this one a five didn't like it.

THE VERDICT: 5 CAGES OUT OF 10 • CLICK HERE for all 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔜𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔬𝔣 ℭ𝔞𝔤𝔢 Chapters + Ongoing Rankings.

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Renfield is a 2023 American action comedy horror film directed by Chris McKay and written by Ryan Ridley, based on a story by Robert Kirkman, who also served as a producer alongside McKay, Samantha Nisenboim, David Alpert, and the duo of Bryan and Sean Furst. Inspired by characters from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker and its 1931 feature film adaption, the film stars Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Brandon Scott Jones, Adrian Martinez, and Nicolas Cage. It was released on March 30, 2023.