Everyone knows Count Dracula, but what about his downtrodden familiar, Renfield?
This casts a hilarious #MeToo eye on Dracula’s abusive workplace practises.
For decades, Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) had been locked in eternal servitude to his sadistic master, Dracula (), whose most evil power is gas-lighting (and sucking the blood of millions of innocents, obviously).
But cut to the present day and the worm is finally turning. Inspired by an assertive New Orleans cop (Awkwafina), Renfield wakes up to his toxic situation and joins a step programme to help break his co-dependency cycle.
To say it’s a crazy, cult-appeal kinda movie is a given – what movie starring Nic Cage isn’t?
Yet even by his own, super-committed, OTT thespian standards, with such gusto that he’s probably still picking the splinters out of his fangs. Watching his Dracula cheekily toy with a blood martini, garnished with eyeballs while bellowing ‘bring me a busload of cheerleaders’ is one of the year’s greatest cinematic pleasures.
Even so, Cage is the supporting role here.
And anyone who’s relished Hoult’s Emmy-nominated turn in The Great or his loveable zombie in Warm Bodies will understand how the British star somehow, miraculously, makes us root for Renfield, a cringing loser who eats live bugs and murders people.
Both Nics are the only stars I can possibly think of who could make this strange, deranged, scattergun (or should that be splatter gun?) gore fest work. The energy pinballs weirdly between ideas and storylines, but there’s definitely never a dull moment.
More surprisingly, the ‘it’s never too late to be a hero’ message is oddly empowering.
And if the chemistry between Hoult and Awkwafina’s characters is a little awkward, perhaps that’s to be expected, given their meet cute involves Renfield slices a bad guy’s arms off with a decorative serving platter, then bashing another henchman with the soggy ends.
Out Friday 14 April in cinemas.
