CINEMA NEWS – The critics were completely blown away by the horror comedy Renfield, but in the good sense of the word. Although the protagonist of the story is Count Dracula’s frustrated assistant, Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), who wants to escape from his boss’s web, critics say that the viewer’s eyes are always inevitably fixed on Nicolas Cage, who completely breaks free in the role of the vampire. This could already be guessed based on the trailer, and the film largely justifies the expectations.

“Nicolas Cage is an actor who’s easy to spot when he’s enjoying his role,” writes CinemaBlend critic Mike Reyes. – Dear readers, if this project wanted to be a tasty victim in a blood bank, Cage sure sucked it dry. You can’t help but notice the happiness that floods her face in every single scene.”

Gizmodo’s Linda Codega was impressed by the fact that she hadn’t seen so many carefully choreographed, sometimes cartoonish, sometimes shocking fights in a movie in years. This makes the production exaggerated and absurd, but that’s the joke. “Blood sprays from the ceiling to the floor, and you never know which part of your body will be torn off the next moment.”

Liz Shannon Miller from Consequence points out that the orgy of violence represents a bold aesthetic, and it’s a very good sign when one of the main complaints about a film is that it could be longer, because you’d want to watch it for a while longer. “Renfield knows exactly what it wants to achieve and consistently achieves it, thanks to excellent acting and ultra-violent action scenes, the latter of which also serves the age rating well. The opening scene alone is worth the price of the ticket, brilliantly reminiscent of the 1931 classic Dracula, with a meta twist.”

Rachel Leishman, critic of The Mary Sue, became an unconditional fan of Renfield. One of the reasons for this is that he thinks that signing Cage to play Dracula was a completely crazy idea, but it worked brilliantly. On the other hand, he welcomes the fact that the creators are not only presenting a fast-paced action horror, but also a double psychological study. Because while depicting the toxic relationship between Dracula and his assistant with great empathy, they show that the relationship between their arch-enemies, the female leader of the crime syndicate and her son, is similarly unhealthy. “It’s very rare in this genre that deep characterization also explores the motivations of supporting characters,” says Rachel Leishman.

(Renfield – domestic presentation: April 13, 2023.)