Renfield Blu Ray Review (Universal)
Renfield is a 2023 action comedy horror film directed and produced by Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War, The Lego Batman Movie, and Robot Chicken). It was written by Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, and Invincible), Ryan Ridley (Rick and Morty, Ghosted, Community, and Blue Mountain State), and Ava Tramer (Atypical, Central Park, and Angie Tribeca). It was Inspired by characters from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Dexter Fletcher was originally announced as director in 2019. Renfield made it’s world premiere at the Overlook Film Festival in March 2023. The budget was $65 million and it only grossed $26.3 million at the box office. It’s now available for streaming on Peacock!!!!
In the early 20th century, Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula (played by: Nicolas Cage from Face/Off, Ghost Rider franchise, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Willy’s Wonderland, Grand Isle, Vengeance: A Love Story, Color Out of Space, and Mandy) meets English lawyer R. M. Renfield (played by: Nicholas Hoult from Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men franchise, The Menu, and Warm Bodies). Renfield hopes to broker a deal for some land, and after proving to be a useful assistant, he ends up becoming Dracula’s familiar, allowing him to be immortal and gaining super strength and speed when he consumes bugs.Ninety years later, Renfield has grown weary and exhausted of bringing victims to Dracula as well as the latter’s abuse. They recently had a close call with some vampire hunters who almost killed the count, so the duo moves to New Orleans to recuperate. There, Renfield discovers a 12-step self-help group for people in codependent relationships and plans to hunt out the group’s abusive lovers so he can give them to Dracula to feast on without feeling remorse. By following one to a warehouse with stolen drugs, Renfield is confronted by several criminals before they are all attacked by an assassin hired by the rival Lobo crime family lead by Bellafrancesca (played by: Shohreh Aghdashloo from 24, House of Sand and Fog, The Punisher, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Star Trek Beyond).
After killing the assassin, Renfield unsuccessfully attempts to hunt down the man who hired him, Tedward Lobo (played by: Ben Schwartz from Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, DC League of Super-Pets, and Blue Iguana) who drives off in a hurry, and a weakened Renfield drags the corpses back to Dracula’s lair in the basement of the dilapidated Charity Hospital. Teddy runs into a sobriety checkpoint that is run by Rebecca Quincy, a second-generation police officer, who arrests Teddy after he hurls bricks of cocaine at her. At the police station, Teddy is released from custody by corrupt police officers, while Rebecca has a confrontation with her sister Kate (played by: Camille Chen from Game Night, Spy Kids 3: Game Over, and Station 19), an FBI agent. Renfield desperate for a new life decides to work with Rebecca Quincy (played by: Awkwafina from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, The Farewell, Ocean’s Eight, and Crazy Rich Asians) to solve both of their problems. Now, they have to face against both the mob and the prince of darkness to be free after all this time. Can they work together long enough to make it happen? or Will things get worse for these underdogs????
Nicolas Cage has only had around 10 bigger theatrical films in the last 12 years and this is one of them! Unfortunately, Renfield didn’t perform well at the box office and it wasn’t able to make it’s money back from the budget. Nicolas Cage is one of my favorite actors so I was very excited when they originally announced this project a few years ago. You never know what kind of performance you are going to get from the former Oscar winner these days when it comes to his recent movies. I thought he was a great Count Dracula here, he reminded me of the old school ones with a new more over the top added to it. This is one of his better performances in years. Nicholas Hoult was excellent as the lead in Renfield. He just keeps getting better and better when it comes to acting. I love his recent selections in characters and movies, he is just trying to find his best possible opportunities when it comes to roles right now. It was weird seeing Sonic the Hedgehog play a gangster and villain at first but he actually pulled it off. Renfield has a solid cast that includes him, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Awkwafina. This one had a perfect balance of horror, action, and comedy in it. Renfield was actually so much more gorier than expected especially for a mainstream feature. It’s loaded with blood, guts, and brutal kills. Top notch special and visual fx for this Dracula production. This met all my expectations and more to be honest. It was one of the most exciting, entertaining, and fun movies of the year. This definitely will make my top ten at the end of the year. It’s streaming right now on Peacock so check it out ASAP, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
Let’s discuss the high definition presentation from Universal Pictures! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks top notch on blu ray. It has slick cinematography so the visuals really pop out on the screen. It’s a very stylish feature, the fx work is awesome in this and it really shows in HD. I’m really shocked that it didn’t get a 4K/UHD release in the states. It has a few different audio options which includes English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, French (Canada): DTS 5.1, and Spanish: DTS-HD HR 7.1 on the disc. This home video release has some excellent audio that pounds in your home set up. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the vampire chaos has a killer boost, and the music is elevated. It also has English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles.
Let’s talk about the special features from Universal Pictures! “Audio Commentary” with Producer Samantha Nisenboim, Screenwriter Ryan Ridley, Post-Production Editor Noah Cody, Supervising Sound Editor Nancy Nugent, Supervising Sound Editor John Marquis, Digital Colorist Supervisor David Cole, Visual Effects Supervisor Jamie Price, and makeup effects artist Christien Tinsley. This is a techinal audio track and it’s a great inside look into the production of this vampire feature. Almost 18 minutes of “Deleted & Extended Scenes” which includes: Open, Lobo Compound & Murder Room, Renfield’s Dance!, Mark Gives Renfield Advice, Newscaster, Lobo Gang Meet Dracula, Coda Kill, and Apartment Fight. A little over 3 minutes of “Alternate Takes” from the film. “Dracula Uncaged” is an almost 5 minute look at Nicolas Cage as the iconic horror character.
“Monsters & Men: Behind the Scenes of Renfield” is a little over 12 minutes. This one covers a lot in it’s shorter run time. It goes over the cast, performances, Dracula, new ideas thrown in the mix for the classic horror character, the production, the story, project origins, locations, and so much more. “Stages of Rejuvenation” is a little over 6 minute glance into the look of Dracula for this new adaptation. “Flesh & Blood” is a little over 5 minute behind the scene focus on the blood, guts, and fx from the production. “Fighting Dirty” is a little over 6 minutes. It goes over the action, fights, choreography, stunts, and other stuff from the movie. “The Making of a Deleted Scene: Renfield’s Dance!” is a little over 3 minutes. It’s a behind the scenes glance into a dance number that didn’t make the final cut. It also has a slipcover, a digital copy, and a DVD of the release included. This home video release is loaded with extras, they cover pretty much everything that you would want to know about the production here. Like I said before, it’s currently streaming on Peacock. I personally think Renfield is a must own, it should be in every collection. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!
