Ever since his breakout role in Valley Girl in the ‘80s, Nicolas Cage has gone on to cross genre lines and star in just about every type of movie, including horror. From his bizarre portrayal in Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs to his over-the-top performance in Robert Bierman’s Vampire’s Kiss, Cage has made a name for himself in horror, but not every movie has been a hit. Peacock just sank its teeth into Cage’s recent horror-comedy that bombed at the box office and fell flat with critics.
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Although critics were mixed on the movie, you really can’t go wrong with pressing play on Renfield. Director Chris McKay’s action horror comedy, inspired by characters from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, started streaming on Peacock on December 9th. The movie, a modern reimagining, stars Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult as the iconic vampire and his grueling servant, who, after decades of servitude, seeks a new purpose in life.
Renfield was far from a success when it was released. The movie bombed at the box office with a $26.9 million haul against a $65 million budget, and it failed to make much of a splash with critics, who only gave it a 58% score on Rotten Tomatoes. But that shouldn’t persuade you away from Renfield, because it’s actually a pretty solid film.
Renfield Is a Unique Twist on the Classic Vampire Story
The Dracula story has a long history on the screen, beginning with F. W. Murnau’s 1922 silent film and maintaining a constant presence every decade since, but Renfield brought something new to the table. Rather than focusing on Dracula himself, the film works as a modern, comedic, horror-action take on Dracula’s familiar, hilariously reimagining the classic Dracula lore with a focus on a modern workplace toxic relationship dynamic with plenty of homages to the original 1931 Dracula film sprinkled in.
Hoult and Cage balance the film in their respective roles, Hoult portraying Renfield as an endearing and sympathetic character simply trying to find empowerment and liberation from Cage’s over-the-top, narcissistic, and menacing Dracula, a role he was seemingly born to play. Renfield’s journey to break free from his abusive, co-dependent relationship with his boss is not only relatable in an otherwise completely fantastical tale but also leads to plenty of humorous moments as he attends a support group and sparks relationships outside of his working partnership with Dracula. The movie also doesn’t lack on gore, delivering just as much extreme and cartoonish violence as it does laughs. The entire movie is simply a fun, over-the-top, and gorily entertaining horror-comedy that won’t leave you disappointed.
What’s New on Peacock?
Renfield is now streaming on Peacock alongside a host of other great movies that joined the platform earlier in the month. The largest wave of titles arrived on December 1st, when 10 Cloverfield Lane, Gladiator, The Martian, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and the entire Rocky franchise started streaming. Even more titles are set to join Peacock later this month, with The Fabelmans arriving on December 11th, the Saw franchise on December 19th, and Despicable Me 4 on December 28th.
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