“I wish to spend a season in hell where the interesting people are.” – Count Dracula
And here we are again, after a six-month absence, taking a look at a horror double bill I saw at the multiplex. No better way to kick off the new site. First up was Renfield, a film that somehow entered my consciousness in a foggy state and kind of got mixed up with the upcoming Last Voyage of the Demeter and became, in my mind at least, something entirely different.
It’s really no secret how big a fan I am, and have been for fifty years, of the Universal Studios monsters, those black and white classics – all of which you’ll find fondly reviewed over in the Crypt of Horror. A particular favourite is Dracula (1931) but I’ve always felt there are parts of that story that need to be expanded – and I’m not talking about Bram Stoker’s original text, I’m talking about the film, which is based on a play, which was based on the book – so it’s kind of the same, but kind of different. I guess in many ways it’s a highlight reel with several notable differences, mainly for our purposes here, Stoker’s character of Jonathan Harker being switched with Renfield.
Renfield, as played by Dwight Frye was an estate agent who had travelled to Transylvania having leased a ruined abbey to the mysterious Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi). By the time Dracula reaches British shores, two things have happened – Dracula has seemingly fed on the crew of the ship hired to bring him and his luggage over, and Renfield’s mind has completely snapped.
I’ve always thought a few more scenes showing Dracula’s various attacks and the ensuing paranoia aboard the sailing ship as the crew number dwindles would be effective, possibly a movie in itself – which is now happening. And I thought adding some detail into exactly what happened to Renfield would be a great idea. Dracula reduces him from being a fine upstanding young man to being Dracula’s sidekick, infected with vampirism just enough to have to sustain himself on flies and bugs. Not even the dignity of being able to consume the blood of rodents – think about that.
Anyhow, in my mind, this was where they were going until I saw that Nicolas cage was playing Dracula, and my heart sank just a bit. Then I saw the trailer and it seemed that the direction was going to be comedic – and I had already seen that back in 1979, when I saw Love at First Bite. So, with this sudden surge of disappointment, I didn’t have high hopes for the movie, but felt I needed to see it, especially as it worked well as the opener to a double bill we could see.
It seemed that we weren’t destined to see the film initially, due to technical problems and the first several minutes being minus sound. That really annoys me on the very rare occasions it inevitably happens. We probably missed out on some valuable set-up, and I know they reprised some scenes from the 1931 Dracula, with Cage digitally replacing Lugosi and Nicholas Hoult replacing Frye. I’ll see those next time I watch the film on disc.
So, from where I actually saw, we’re in the modern day in New Orleans. Dracula is disfigured from his last run-in with a priest or bishop (the sound was off at this point) played by William Ragsdale whose previous vampire hunting credential was playing Charlie Brewster in the Fright Night films. Dracula needs blood to rejuvenate, and Renfield helps him out on that.
Hoult’s Renfield is nowhere near as demented as Dwight Frye’s portrayal or indeed Arte Johnson’s in Love at First Bite. He seems a decent enough guy, trying to get out of an abusive co-dependancy. However, when he needs a boost to enhance his frankly awesome martial arts skills, he’ll eat a bug or two.
Whoa – Renfield has martial arts skills? Yup. The film is positively gushing with blood spattered fight scenes, as Renfield joins New Orleans cop Rebecca (Awkwafina – last seen in Marvel’s Shang Chi) in her fight against a crime family who Dracula fancies joining.
And that’s all the plot you get, no spoilers here.
The film surprised me, because for all my doubts and not really getting the all-important opening set-up, I really had a blast watching it. It’s NOT an all-out comedy, where everything is played for laughs. There’s plenty of blood shedding action and the body count is absurdly high. There are gross-out moments, you WILL see a face torn off, and there’s a bit of horror. But it was the performances that struck me. Awkwafina milks her scenes for all their comedic worth, but only when it’s appropriate. When I saw her in Shang Chi, I was afraid she’d end up pushing the smug sideways look schtick too far and becoming the new Melissa McCarthy. But this isn’t the case here, thankfully.
What I found the most surprising though was Nicolas Cage’s Dracula. And I never thought I’d say this. The casting is perfect. I like Cage, there’s no denying that. But the dude is prone to overacting and scenery chewing – there’s no denying that either. But his peculiarly unique way of delivering lines of dialogue and his overacting here fit the role he’s playing with precision. Lugosi (and I’m a HUGE Lugosi fan) similarly overacted with sweeping gestures and had a weird way with dialogue, full of dramatic pauses. Cage doesn’t so much try to imitate Lugosi, but echoes his iconic performance just enough, and with the application of make-up, bears more than a passing resemblance. Honestly, I found his Dracula pretty much the highlight of the film.
Going in, I maybe thought the film might scrape a 5 on the Rob Rating.
But here we are….
Rob Rating – 8