Gore and gags splatter the screen with grisly abandon in hyperactive horror comedy Renfield. Nicholas Hoult stars as Dracula\u2019s hapless, bug-eating servant, who\u2019s been sourcing blood donors for his voracious boss (Nicolas Cage) for well over a century, and now he wants a way out of this toxic relationship.<\/p>\n
With the Count a little worse for wear after an unfortunate encounter with some daylight leaves him barbecued to a crisp, Renfield takes him to recuperate in New Orleans. There Renfield joins a self-help group for people with abusive partners.<\/p>\n
Not, at first, because he believes he needs help, but because he\u2019s becoming ever more uncomfortable plying his boss with his favourite snacks \u2013 nuns, tourists and cheerleaders.<\/p>\n
Renfield reasons that the group members\u2019 lowlife other halves are \u201cmonsters\u201d who deserve to become vampire take-out. Drac, however, is not impressed with the narcotics-laced blood Renfield is bringing him.<\/p>
Then Renfield witnesses plucky young cop Qunicy (Awkwafina) standing up to a local crime boss and his goons, and is inspired to step in and help her out. Because, obviously, in the current cinematic climate, Renfield isn\u2019t just the creepy, insect-munching lawyer of Bram Stoker\u2019s novel, but a bug-powered superhero, with some serious fighting moves.<\/p>\n
Together they mutilate most of the gang (for a cop who constantly calls out the standards of her colleagues, Quincy is remarkably unfazed by Renfield slicing bad guys to pieces) and Renfield has an epiphany: he likes being a good(ish) guy, and he\u2019s going to take back his life. Like Drac\u2019s going to let that happen.<\/p>\n
Hoult and Cage are huge fun in this messy black comedy, which misses as often as it hits. It\u2019s directed by Chris McKay, who did such an excellent job with The Lego Batman Movie \u2013 a sharp, incisively funny and inventive film that also cleverly explored the Bat-mythology.<\/p>\n
Renfield has moments of similar wit and opens very promisingly with a montage of Hoult\u2019s and Cage\u2019s faces cheekily CGI-ed onto into clips from classic Universal horror movies, including the Count\u2019s first meeting with Renfield in Todd Browning\u2019s 1932 Dracula. You can almost hear cineastes squirming in disgust.<\/p>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/04\/renfield-nicolas-cage-4f16f38.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C414"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Hoult is wonderful in the central role \u2013 a kind of dishevelled, amoral take on Hugh Grant\u2019s diffident Brit out of water \u2013 and delivers a constantly amusing, deadpan narration.<\/p>\n
Cage is equally watchable as a deliciously over-the-top Dracula who gets all the best lines (\u201cI am the victim here!\u201d) and strikes some gloriously arch poses (though British viewers familiar with The Fast Show may not be able to get Paul Whitehouse\u2019s Nosferatu out of their heads).<\/p>\n
Sadly, the film doesn\u2019t play to its strengths. It could have been a character-based comedy in the vein of What We Do in the Shadows, but instead opts for a Matthew (Kick-Ass) Vaughn-style designer violence approach, with cascades of blood and guts spilling all over the place, violent bowel ejections and slow-motion fight scenes underscored by classical music (Habanera from Carmen in this case).<\/p>\n
The in-your-face gore and action elements in the film work well enough, and there are a few memorable \u201cwhat the hell am I looking at?\u201d gross-out images to savour. However, they often swamp the film\u2019s more interesting, and funnier aspects.<\/p>\n
The high-octane, over-amped plotting leaves little room for quieter character moments, which is a shame as those are often the highlights. Indeed, one of the best gags involves nothing more than a door mat. But the film seems desperate to get back to the shouty gangsters and dismemberment as quickly and as often as possible.<\/p>\n
For splatterfest and cult movie fans, there\u2019s much to enjoy in Renfield. You just can\u2019t help thinking there\u2019s a much better film buried in a coffin somewhere inside it.<\/p>