Nicolas Cage is Dracula.  Honestly, this alone was enough to pitch this film, and the on set photos of Cage as the iconic villain were also enough to spark audience interest.  However, Universal has finally given us more than just a taste of blood with a full trailer for their upcoming horror/comedy Renfield, starring Nicholas Hoult as the titular servant and Nicolas Cage as the vampire overlord, Dracula!

Toxic Relationship
The trailer shows us Renfield showing up to some sort of support group where he discusses his toxic work relationship and the struggles with his boss who overworks him and knows no boundaries.  Given that this is set in modern day, we can assume that these characters have been in this dynamic since the novel was set in 1987.

Renfield seems to befriend a police officer (played by Awkwafina) who tries to help him see that there’s a better life.  There’s plenty of action, plenty of jokes and laughs, just in the 2 and half minutes that we see.

Essentially, the trailer drives home two major points: Renfield is the main character of the movie and Cage’s Dracula is more a supporting role, and this is much closer to parody satire than it is outright horror.  That being said, it looks like a lot of fun!

Just Enough Cage
The trailer smartly holds off showing too much of Cage’s Dracula.  We hear his voice throughout and get an awesome but brief reveal of him at the end, and hopefully that’s all they show of him in the promotional material.  It would have been all too easy to spoil all his best moments in the trailer and here’s to hoping Universal refrains from doing that.

With what little we see, Cage is hamming it up perfectly, doing his usual bizarre take on everything.  Part of his magic is that no matter whether this movie is good or terrible, it will be interesting and entertaining.  One of Cage’s most infamous and iconic hammy roles was 1988’s Vampire’s Kiss, and Renfield feels like the spiritual sequel to that we never asked for, but definitely wanted!

Renfield is coming to theaters April 14, 2023

What did you think of the Renfield trailer?  What do you hope to see most in the movie?  Let us know in the comments!

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