Being a fan of vampire movies and horror comedies in general I knew this film would speak to me in a number of ways. Not to mention the perfect pairing of Cage and Holt in the title roles, I found this film to have all the right elements to make a compelling and genuinely enjoyable feature. This modern monster tale sees Dracula’s familia trying desperately to live a ‘normal’ life but quickly gets himself into heaps of trouble, Nicholas Holt did a brilliant job at creating a likeable character. His shy and timid characteristics were really fun to watch especially when contrasted with his moments of rage and anger. In saying that, I have found it truly difficult to pick a favourite character because I found all of them to be really fun, who wouldn’t thought Nicholas Cage could do Dracula so damn well?
Awkwafina was a great casting decision alongside the two Nicks, she has a demanding presence on screen and delivered some hilarious moments when paired with Holt’s character of Renfield.
Visually, I found this film to be aesthetically pleasing from beginning to end. A somewhat under appreciated element to this movie, the colour palette and costumes were all really well designed and I thoroughly enjoyed those details. Especially the nods to original Bella Lugosi’s Dracula, seeing those black and white moments was perfection.
Overall, Renfield (2023) was a strong movie for me. I found myself thoroughly enjoying the characters and the overall storyline. To a lot of viewers vampires are over worked in cinema and I tend to agree, which is why I found this film to be truly refreshing. This was not your typical vampire movie, it incorporated a completely different narrative, intention and point of view. Following the story of Renfield changed the whole tone of the movie, as the title suggests, this is not a Dracula movie, this film is Renfield’s story; and I loved that.
Although some moments were a little cringe worthy and a few of the fight scenes could have seen some better special effects, it didn’t ruin the experience for me. I thoroughly enjoyed watching and would definitely recommend and watch again.
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