Nicolas Cage sinks his teeth into Renfield

The new horror/comedy movie Renfield pays homage to the past and then flaps its way into the future. Nicolas Cage plays Conde Dracula and Nicholas Hoult is his sidekick R.M. Renfield, who is tired of being a lackey and disrespected by the sharp-toothed devil.

To deal with the gaslighting, the title character joins a support group that includes a diverse group of individuals who are all suffering from traumas of some sort.

Part of the process is nursing Dracula back to health in this symbiotic relationship and fights to break out between participants living in New Orleans, which leads Renfield to meet a traffic cop portrayed by Awkwafina.

Renfield gains strength from consuming insects and this aids him when battling assailants during his adventures. This comes in especially handy when Renfield eventually takes on his Transylvanian boss to regain self-esteem and power in the end.

There are several blood baths that happen around these encounters, but are depicted as more comical and extreme instead of simply being horrific stunts. This allows viewers of all ages to laugh at the gross out and over the top scenes instead of being bothered by the blood and guts of the situation.

Director Chris McKay brings his past cartoonish sensibilities used in Robot Chicken and The Lego Batman Movie to the project that serves Renfield well. Other collaborators contribute in this way also such as screenplay writer Ryan Ridley from the Rick & Morty series and Invincible creator Robert Kirkman.

Dracula has been around for a long time and dates back to the original 1897 self-titled novel.

Forget films like Dracula Untold or the disappointing Morbius, Renfield takes the genre and shakes the dirt off. This Prince of Darkness doesn't discriminate between genders and is an equal-opportunity serial killer.

The actors in Renfield are in on the joke with their fangs planted firmly inside their cheeks, just like in the FX mockumentary series What We Do in the Shadows.

Cage is a gift as usual and worth the price of the ticket even with the simplest of gestures. There is some stiff competition out there for vampires in the world of cinema, but Nicolas Kim Coppola is a standout and relishes playing the part. His quirky career is clearly on a new path and it's plain to see that in recent films Pig and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

Even though his love life has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, at age 59, he appears to be at a good place as he devours Dracula in his first major studio action film since Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in 2011.

While Renfield may not be an award-season contender, it certainly doesn't suck. It's a fun, just over 90 minute, popcorn movie with a biting sense of humor that will entertain longtime fans of Cage's body of work.

Renfield flies into theaters on April 14, 2023. Find screening information and a game to chew on at RenfieldMovie.com!