The original 1931 Universal Monsters movie Dracula opens with an introduction to Renfield (Dwight Frye) as he travels to Transylvania to solidify business plans with Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), only to wind up his raving mad servant instead. Director Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War) and writer Ryan Ridley (“Rick and Morty”) seamlessly tie their modern reimagining of the characters to the original Universal classic before skipping ahead to the present day in horror-comedy Renfield. The leap simultaneously establishes the reverence for the horror classics as well as an anemic shorthand in the storytelling.
After the impressive introductory sequence that sees Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage composited into the 1931 film to explain their history together, we meet Renfield (Hoult) in the present as a long-suffering henchman to his narcissistic boss, Dracula (Cage). Despite an early attempt by vampire hunters to free Renfield from Dracula’s grip, Renfield remains a miserable yet loyal servant in a constant struggle to source Dracula’s next meal. Renfield tries to absolve his guilt by using meetings at a support group to poach the toxic narcissists in fellow members’ lives to feed his boss while realizing something needs to change. Enter traffic cop Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina), whose severe grudge against the Lobos, a New Orleans crime syndicate, puts everyone on a violent collision course. It might finally allow Renfield to sever his toxic relationship with Dracula, but he’ll have to survive it all first.
Nicolas Cage as Dracula in Renfield, directed by Chris McKay. Photo Credit: Universal Pictures
Nicholas Hoult effortlessly imbues Renfield with sympathetic guilt and warm humanity. Still, his beleaguered straight man struggles to hold the spotlight against Awkwafina’s firecracker wit or Nicolas Cage’s scene-chewing portrayal of Dracula. As charming as Hoult’s Renfield can be, and the actor can handle whatever physical horror or comedy gag gets tossed his way, the mild-mannered Renfield shrinks to the background when more assertive, bolder characters are on screen. Renfield often becomes overlooked in his own story against Rebecca’s volatile bid to avenge her father or Dracula’s narcissistic quest for domination.
Chris McKay’s reverence for horror, the classic Universal Monsters, and these characters extends well beyond the ingenious 1931 callbacks. It’s everywhere, right down to the Basil Gogos inspired color palette. Dracula fanatics will connect Rebecca’s father to another classic literary character or spot the nods to other Universal Monsters. Cage’s Dracula is an amalgam of various character iterations, right down to the London After Midnight-inspired sharp teeth. While a respectable choice, this quickly becomes distracting as Cage struggles to work around them.
Photo Credit: Michele K. Short / Universal Pictures
The horror comedy, helmed by a clear horror fan, assumes the audience is just as savvy and operates on shorthand for its rules and world-building. A knowing quip about all the various vampire lore amassed over the decades, blurring fact from fiction, provides the excuse to toss any rules out the window. The joke lands, but it highlights the overall anemic storytelling at play here. Renfield zips along from set piece to set piece with breakneck speed while giving more precedence to Rebecca’s story over Renfield’s plight. Only when Hoult and Cage are together on screen does the central toxic relationship get explored at all; Renfield is more comfortable as an irreverent splatstick funhouse ride.
And that’s okay. The cast is having a ball, and it’s infectious. McKay’s tributes to horror charm, while his creative use of gore elicits the film’s biggest laughs. The commitment to doing as much practically as possible is also winsome. All around it’s a breezy, low-stakes, and effortless watch with inspired moments, even if it feels like McKay’s hampered by the script that’s mostly centered around vague yet wholesome messaging of reclaiming power from a toxic relationship.
It won’t reignite fervor for a new Universal Monsters resurgence, but Renfield makes for an entertaining enough time at the movies.
Renfield releases in theaters on April 14, 2023.
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