‘Renfield’ Review: Nicolas Cage Dons the Count’s Cape

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Review: Bram Stoker’s novel gets a contemporary, slapstick twist in 'Renfield,' which sees Dracula’s assistant trapped in a toxic relationship with his bloodsucking boss, played by Nicolas Cage

to pop psychology, here lies “Renfield” on the therapist’s couch. Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel introduced Dracula’s minion through the journals of Dr. Seward, who diagnosed the insect-eater as a “zoophagous maniac” and otherwise threw up his hands. Sigmund Freud had yet to popularize psychoanalysis. But this wickedly funny update, set in modern New Orleans, exists in a therapized culture that allows director Chris McKay and screenwriter Ryan Ridley to reach for more empathetic descriptors.

It’s a clever conceit until the joke gets repetitive. Renfield joins a support group, brandishes a self-help book like a protective crucifix and, during a makeover montage, swaps his gothic rags for khakis. Do we believe for one second that a mass murderer would frame an inspirational poster that reads “YOLO”? No, although the gag is an example of the attention Mr. McKay and his production team lavish on any detail that might earn a snort.

 

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The vampire series is a timeless classic

This reminds me of Bram Stoker's toxic relationship with Sir Henry Irving.

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