Details from IMDB:
Renfield, Dracula’s tortured henchman, is forced to capture prey for his master and do his every bidding. But now, after centuries of servitude, Renfield is ready to see if there is a life outside his boss’s shadow.
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- Stars
Initial Thoughts:
Ah Nicolas Cage, I’ve talked about him before. He’s an Oscar winning actor (and a Coppola) but he’s also a huge geek and he is willing to take all kinds of roles. Apparently he’s wanted to play Dracula his whole life (he did play a vampireish character once before in another comedy), so now he finally gets a chance. I had a Cineplex code to use and this looked like fun (and I’ll admit was only 93 minutes, I prefer shorter movies), so I gave this on watch Saturday night.
Main Points:
Cage is having a great time here as Dracula but he’s not the main character, the movie is mostly about his familiar Renfield and how unsatisfied with his life and his role. This movie had some good ideas that were a lot of fun to see, Renfield gets his power from eating bugs and when he activates we get some gory/fun sequences like him ripping off someone’s arms and killing people with them. There is a ton of blood here and some truly gory scenes but it’s done with quick shots and it didn’t bother me. Also here is a very modern take on mental health/co-depended/support groups which was interesting to do with Dracula and a 100+ year old Renfield who fought in WWI.
There is a connection to the mob in the later part of the movie, which does very little for the plot but makes for some great fight scenes. I liked how in the movie while Dracula is very powerful (especially at night), he is not invincible and his greatest power is that no matter what happens he can always come back, it’s just a question of time. I think this is one of the examples of you can let him go full Cage, for an over the top role like Dracula, it works well.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how funny this is, it’s full of laugh out loud moments and the big reason for that is Awkafina . She is one of the funniest actors around today and while she doesn’t get a big role in this movie, she steals every scene she’s in. The two Nicolas’ have their moments too, I was pleasantly surprised with how funny this amusing this is.
Final Thoughts:
I have to say please don’t let your kids watch this. A ton of blood, gore, drugs and coarse language throughout, ages 18+. I enjoyed this enough that I’d watch a sequel, though it is satisfying ending and doesn’t need one. If you just turn off your critical brain you can easily this for a gory/comedy/horror movie and it was just what I was in the mood for on a Saturday night (with some pot of course!). I give it 7.5 out of 10 (a full .5 for Awkafina and another for Nicholas Hoult) and a recommendation if gore doesn’t bother you.