Dracula, where he’s been memorably portrayed by greats like Alexander Granach (in 1922’s silent Nosferatu), Dwight Frye (as a wide-eyed madman in 1931’s Dracula), and Tom Waits (chewing the scenery, and bugs, in 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula), Renfield is perpetually overshadowed by the blood-sucking count.Universal’s new Renfield (★★☆☆☆), a big-budget spinoff of the Dracula story, set in present-day New Orleans, promises to give the character his overdue shine.
Unfortunately, the film is an overcooked clash of genre and tepid grasps at modernization, whose greatest asset is — you guessed it — Dracula himself, played by a glammed-up, fang-gnashing Nicolas Cage.
There are many cooks in the kitchen — director Chris McKay, screenwriter Ryan Ridley, story writer Robert Kirkman, star Nicholas Hoult — but Cage will be the main attraction for most moviegoers.Renfield is being touted as the latest entry in Cage’s career comeback, though, like last year’s self-referential The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, it has its roots in the actor’s past.
One could say Dracula is in Cage’s blood. As a child, he was haunted by Max Schreck’s grotesque performance in the German expressionist masterpiece Nosferatu.
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