"Evil doesn’t span eternity without a little help" in Renfield. This comedy horror film directed by Chris McKay, written by Ryan Ridley, and inspired by characters from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. In this modern monster tale of Dracula’s loyal servant, Renfield is the tortured aide to history’s most narcissistic boss, Dracula. Renfield is forced to procure his master’s prey and do his every bidding, no matter how debased. But now, after centuries of servitude, Renfield is ready to see if there’s a life outside the shadow of The Prince of Darkness. If only he can figure out how to end his codependency.
In November 2019, Dexter Fletcher was originally hired to direct a film based on an original pitch by Robert Kirkman and penned by Ridley for Universal and Skybound Entertainment. The film was described as a comedic approach to the story of Count Dracula, in the vein of Taika Waititi's vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows (2014), that focuses on the character of Renfield. In April 2021, McKay entered negotiations to direct after Fletcher left to work on a reboot of The Saint for Paramount Pictures. McKay was hired because he reportedly gave a successful pitch combining the story's mix of humor and action. In March 2023, McKay described the film as a "quasi-sequel" to Dracula (1931), depicting the same characters of Dracula and Renfield ninety years on. By February 2022, Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage were cast as Renfield and Dracula respectively, with Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez, and Shohreh Aghdashloo rounding out the film's cast. An "enormous" fan of Dracula and the source material, Cage prepared for his role by observing the distinctive ways Dracula was portrayed on screen by Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Frank Langella, and Gary Oldman. Cage mentioned An American Werewolf in London (1981), Ring (1998), and Malignant (2021) as inspirations for the role. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in mid April. Filming took place in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The cast made the choice to treat this script as award-worthy material instead of the hilarious schlock it is, and the performances are gorgeously melodramatic. Both Hoult and Cage are sorely wasted, though they each try their best to enliven the lumbering script.
The film is refreshingly character-driven and has a sense of joy in its storytelling that makes this great-grandfather of the vampire genre seem fresh and alive. It's as if the film knows that you know that the film knows it can do better. Or something like that. Probably best not to think too hard about that. Hammier than a ham and pineapple pizza without the pesky fruit, the film fair rattles along as an epically daft but curiously enjoyable gothic horror. There is some spectacle here, but the story never achieves lift-off, and with Cage eventually over-doing the vampire stuff, it crashes and burns somewhere in predictably heat-swept New Orleans. Add the film to the seemingly endless list of failed attempts to reclaim the iconography of Universal Studios' classic monster movies.
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