If you had told me a few years ago I would be enjoying a Dracula film centered on a monstrously magnificent performance by Nicolas Cage as the vampire lord himself that was actually a story about co-dependency with Renfield as the sympathetic hero, I would not have believed you. RENFIELD is everything you could desire in a ripping horror comedy, including plenty of literally ripped-off limbs and heads and other body parts. But I digress. Nestled within RENFIELD‘s still and dark heart is the spark of life, love, and hope

The film is directed by Chris McKay (The Lego Batman Movie, The Tomorrow War) and written by Ryan Ridley (“Rick and Morty,” “Ghosted”) based on an original idea by Robert Kirkman, creator of “The Walking Dead.”

As synopses go, this is a really interesting one: Renfield, the tortured aide to his narcissistic boss, Dracula, is forced to procure his master’s prey and do his every bidding. However, after centuries of servitude, he’s ready to see if there’s a life outside the shadow of the Prince of Darkness.

As I mentioned earlier, Nicolas Cage is great as Dracula. Since he has already played a vampire before, he is already aware of what that kind of role calls for, and since he is Nicolas Cage, he invests himself 100% into the character. This is no himbo dressed up in a Drac cape. From what I have read, Cage was a big fan of Christopher Lee’s masterful turn as the dark lord, and you can see that he completely understands the assignment. His Dracula is commanding, imperious, and dangerous, yet still sexy, both to men and women. Most uninspired Dracula and other vampire movies content themselves with hiring an attractive actor who doesn’t know what they are doing but looks cool.

One thing that makes RENFIELD stand out is that the actors in the film were chosen with care, dedicated to the craft and the material, and generally understand exactly what the characters need from them. In Cage’s portrayal, you can see hints of his character Peter Loew, from Vampire’s Kiss, and fleeting moments reminiscent of Lee’s turn in the Hammer Horror film series as well as other classic Dracula performances. It’s a tremendously layered and respectful performance that commands the screen. It is the Dracula that the audience and the legend deserve. It follows in the tradition of the great Draculas: Lee, Bela Lugosi, and Gary Oldman. There is more than one would expect, but there can never be too many. No, I’m not going to name them all.

Nicolas Hoult as R.M. Renfield is the center of the film; the film is called RENFIELD for a reason. Hoult gives a sensitive, touching, and nuanced performance that never slides into the excesses of “comedy acting.” He plays it straight and is quite serious, which is just what the role requires. He immediately secures your sympathy even though his character is doing monstrous things. As he starts to regain himself and acquire strength of character, it’s easy for the audience to continue to sympathize with him because he has earned that sympathy. Other standouts among the actors are Shohreh Aghdashloo as crime boss Bellafrancesca Lobo. Aghdashloo is usually an MVP in most films she is in like she was in Run Sweetheart Run. It’s a pleasure to watch her work.

All of the cast members who are part of the self-help group are wonderful. Played by Brandon Scott Jones, Bess Rous, Caroline Williams, and Jenna Kannell respectfully, I found them easily relatable. Rosha Washington, Rhonda Johnson Dents, and Christopher Matthew Cook all do good work. Camille Chen as Kate and Ben Schwartz as Tedward Lobo are both very good as well. I do have to ding one performance slightly and that is Awkwafina’s work as Rebecca, while her work is mostly fine, she does lean into the comedy acting a little too much and tends to make faces rather than allow her feelings to tell the story for her.

Through the set-up of the Church self-help group, the wonderful idea of making Dracula into a narcissistic boss is expressed quite well. The script doesn’t belabor you about the head and shoulders, but it does show the effects of having a narcissistic partner or boss on the characters at the meeting and gives pointers on how the process works as Dracula is shown manipulating Renfield in other scenes, including the vampire killer’s flashback. The flashback scene lands one priceless joke at the expense of a certain religious organization that deserves it.

The cinematography by Mitchell Amundsen is lovely, with brooding dark interiors in the vampire liar, a bar, and the crime family’s home but even then humble apartment building where Renfield takes up residence is all photographed with a great eye toward the intention and needs of the scene. In particular, a wonderfully lit close-up of a pile of aging donuts covered with flies was beautifully rendered and hearkens back to a scene with a pile of bodies earlier which I found clever. Amundsen seems to understand New Orleans and how to film fights which is no surprise since he has previously worked as a director of photography on several action-heavy films.

The direction is very good, obviously, McKay knows how to work with actors to get the best and most sympathetic or disturbing performances, walking the line between comedy and horror and he acquits himself well with the violence and fights. While there aren’t any blood fountains, there is a surprising and satisfying amount of gore. The score by Mario Beltrami totally works for the setting and atmosphere. The script works like gangbusters, alternately funny, horrifying, touching, and droll.

I have to admit that the original idea from Robert Kirkman was an excellent idea. What people don’t understand sometimes about remaking a classic property is that it helps if you put your own spin on it. We’ve seen the story many times before, so giving it a great romantic sweep, Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, or giving it weird, surreal twists in a plague setting, like Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu, which is a version of Dracula, by the way, or taking a strong stance about what the story can mean outside of the original text is a way to make the idea original and fresh again.

RENFIELD is a classy yet bloody riff on the legendary story of Dracula. It welds the ancient lore of Dracula into a modern setting with a moral subtext that makes the story work in new ways. With excellent performances from Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage and Hoult’s work is a match for the overpowering presence and talent of Cage, it has totally rewritten the concept of Renfield that has existed for almost a century. Wickedly funny, filled with charismatic electricity, and surprisingly touching, it rings new beats for the most classic of all vampire tales.

RENFIELD arrives in theaters on April 14, 2023.