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Dracula: The Un-Dead
Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt
7.0
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The official sequel to Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula, written by his direct descendent and...
Andy K (10821 KP) rated Son of Frankenstein (1939) in Movies
Sep 27, 2019
He's still alive!...
The son of Dr. Henry Frankenstein comes back to the family mansion many years after the events in Bride of Frankenstein with his family eager to start a new life. There is still a foul haze over the town and villagers after the havoc the monster had wreaked oh so many years ago. Frankenstein finds it hard to change the mood.
Enter Ygor, a strange man who enters Frankenstein's life and reveals a vastly kept secret, the monster is alive! Frankenstein, eager to rescue his family's reputation decides it a good idea to revive the monster. Unfortunately, the newly risen monster has become the henchman of Ygor and does his ghastly bidding.
The story this time around is starting to feel a bid tired. There are several sections where the monster does not appear at all making the story fairly slow going at times.
The best addition to this film is Bela Lugosi as Ygor. The original Dracula shows up here and is marvelously wicked and hilarious. I'm not sure I had ever seen him in anything except Dracula, so it was a refreshing change to see him with different make up and costumes and such a charming and sinister villain to play.
I would still recommend to fans of the franchise, but I was really disappointed we didn't get more of the Bride of Frankenstein in this one especially since the monster was back. They could've found a way to bring her back as well.
Enter Ygor, a strange man who enters Frankenstein's life and reveals a vastly kept secret, the monster is alive! Frankenstein, eager to rescue his family's reputation decides it a good idea to revive the monster. Unfortunately, the newly risen monster has become the henchman of Ygor and does his ghastly bidding.
The story this time around is starting to feel a bid tired. There are several sections where the monster does not appear at all making the story fairly slow going at times.
The best addition to this film is Bela Lugosi as Ygor. The original Dracula shows up here and is marvelously wicked and hilarious. I'm not sure I had ever seen him in anything except Dracula, so it was a refreshing change to see him with different make up and costumes and such a charming and sinister villain to play.
I would still recommend to fans of the franchise, but I was really disappointed we didn't get more of the Bride of Frankenstein in this one especially since the monster was back. They could've found a way to bring her back as well.
The Time Machine
Marina Warner, H.G. Wells, Patrick Parrinder and Steve McLean
5.0
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A seminal and hugely imaginative work of early science fiction, H.G. Wells's The Time Machine is the...
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Renfield (2023) in Movies
Apr 22, 2023
Cage feels Caged-In
Sometime you are in the mood for a drama, sometimes an action flick, other times a romantic comedy.
And then there are times you just want to watch Nicholas Cage camping it up on-screen as Dracula.
If that is the mood you are in, boy do I have a movie for you.
Based (very loosely) on the character created by Bram Stoker (and the classic 1931 film starring Bela Lugosi), RENFIELD tells the tale of an over-the-top Dracula in modern times as seen through his “familiar”, Renfield.
Nicholas Hoult (Beast in the latest series of X-Men films) plays Renfield as a put-upon assistant to Dracula - kind of a comedy/horror version of the relationship of Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - and it works (for the most part). Hoult is a winning (enough) and sympathetic presence on screen and you find yourself rooting for him in the end.
The surprising thing to me in this film is the sub-plot of Renfield finding love with a Police Office portrayed by (of all people) Awkwafina. This comedienne/actress has really grown on the BankofMarquis as a solid and dependable presence on screen and she doesn’t disappoint here. And that’s a good thing for the Renfield/Rebecca the Cop relationship ends up taking center stage during the 2nd act of this film (moving Nic Cage’s Dracula off-screen for a long stretch of time) and it works for Hoult and Awkwafina play off each other very well.
As for Cage, his Dracula is off-center, wacky, frenetic and out-of-this world. A true fish-out-of-water. But…if I’m being honest…his performance feels reigned in and it didn’t go far enough out-of-the-box and didn’t get nearly crazy enough for my tastes.
When something like that happens, one needs to look no further than the Director and Chris McKay (THE LEGO MOVIE, THE TOMORROW WAR) has a track record (at least for the BankofMarquis) of pulling his punches - and he pulls many, many punches in this film. But, he also DOESN’T pull punches at times (like in the scene where one guy gets his arms ripped off and then these arms are used as nunchucks on a bevy of bad guys). He doesn’t really know how far or how outlandish he should go. So he filters in a comedic amount of blood and gore - and then reigns Cage in. It’s an odd choice.
If you decide to watch Renfield, you already know what to expect - and for the most part you get it - except in the one spot that you really need it.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
And then there are times you just want to watch Nicholas Cage camping it up on-screen as Dracula.
If that is the mood you are in, boy do I have a movie for you.
Based (very loosely) on the character created by Bram Stoker (and the classic 1931 film starring Bela Lugosi), RENFIELD tells the tale of an over-the-top Dracula in modern times as seen through his “familiar”, Renfield.
Nicholas Hoult (Beast in the latest series of X-Men films) plays Renfield as a put-upon assistant to Dracula - kind of a comedy/horror version of the relationship of Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - and it works (for the most part). Hoult is a winning (enough) and sympathetic presence on screen and you find yourself rooting for him in the end.
The surprising thing to me in this film is the sub-plot of Renfield finding love with a Police Office portrayed by (of all people) Awkwafina. This comedienne/actress has really grown on the BankofMarquis as a solid and dependable presence on screen and she doesn’t disappoint here. And that’s a good thing for the Renfield/Rebecca the Cop relationship ends up taking center stage during the 2nd act of this film (moving Nic Cage’s Dracula off-screen for a long stretch of time) and it works for Hoult and Awkwafina play off each other very well.
As for Cage, his Dracula is off-center, wacky, frenetic and out-of-this world. A true fish-out-of-water. But…if I’m being honest…his performance feels reigned in and it didn’t go far enough out-of-the-box and didn’t get nearly crazy enough for my tastes.
When something like that happens, one needs to look no further than the Director and Chris McKay (THE LEGO MOVIE, THE TOMORROW WAR) has a track record (at least for the BankofMarquis) of pulling his punches - and he pulls many, many punches in this film. But, he also DOESN’T pull punches at times (like in the scene where one guy gets his arms ripped off and then these arms are used as nunchucks on a bevy of bad guys). He doesn’t really know how far or how outlandish he should go. So he filters in a comedic amount of blood and gore - and then reigns Cage in. It’s an odd choice.
If you decide to watch Renfield, you already know what to expect - and for the most part you get it - except in the one spot that you really need it.
Letter Grade: B
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)