To cope with his misery, Renfield attends a support group for people in unhealthy dependent relationships. ![]() That would be Renfield ( Nicholas Hoult), the tyrannical Transylvanian monster’s “familiar,” who decades ago fell into unholy servitude-an origin story that’s recounted in a cheeky Tod Browning-style black-and-white intro-and is now unhappy with his eternal lot in life finding food for his master. They’re just time-fillers designed to cast the material in a slightly more superhero-ish light-a notion underlined by the fact that its protagonist gains his amazing physical powers by consuming his favorite snack: insects. This turns out to be a false assumption, as there’s absolutely nothing amusing or creative about the film’s numerous ultra-violent set pieces. Apparently, the director believes that staging gruesome one-against-many skirmishes will generate laughs so long as a few limbs are torn off and bodies are obliterated in explosions of blood. ![]() He’s the prince of pretentious darkness, and the saving grace of this otherwise slapdash variation on the Bram Stoker legend.ĭirector Chris McKay’s follow-up to The Tomorrow War is ostensibly a horror-comedy, yet in one of many misbegotten decisions, Renfield places an inordinate amount of emphasis on R-rated supernatural action. Sporting a pasty complexion, slicked-back hair, and a variety of stylish suits (including one that’s luscious red velvet, and another with glittering black lapels) that go perfectly with his top hat and cane, his Count is a distinctly Cage-ian riff on Bela Lugosi-all heavily accented diabolical imperiousness and giggling, twittering, freakish affectation. ![]() Nicolas Cage never met a movie whose scenery he couldn’t chew, and Renfield gives the star an ideal opportunity to sink his teeth into a truly juicy role: Dracula, the legendary bloodsucker who feeds on humans, lives forever, and is engaged in a perpetual war with the church.
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