Renfield

“Renfield” is a 2023 horror/comedy/action movie starring Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies), Nicolas Cage (Vampire’s Kiss), and Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians).

Renfield (Hoult) is Dracula’s (Cage) familiar who does all his bidding. He starts to think there is a better life out there and starts going to codependent classes to help deal with his relationship with Dracula. Renfield has his own powers by feasting on bugs. While at a restaurant he gets caught up in middle of a mob shootout, instead of sitting idly by, he feasts on his bugs and stops the mob while saving a female cop (Awkwafina) in the process. Now Renfield finds new confidence to help him start a new life and leave Dracula. Only problem, is Dracula isn’t happy about it. So, now he has the mob plus Dracula are after him.

I was excited when the trailers first dropped for this one, but it wasn’t in theaters long enough for me to go see it. So, when it came out in Redbox I went and got it the same day. Nicholas Cage has come full circle, from thinking he’s a vampire in “Vampire’s Kiss” to playing Dracula in “Renfield”, and I love that. It looks hilarious, and it also stars Nicholas Hoult, who I love in “Warm Bodies.” So, how does it stack up to expectations?

First, it’s different than I thought. It looked like it would be a lot funnier than it was. Awkwafina is a funny comic, so adding her you would think it would be funnier than it is. It has an occasional funny joke, here and there, but that’s about it. Mostly the funny parts are on the trailer. It’s more action based, it is chalked full of fight scenes, most of them pretty gory. You get to see Hoult rip a guy’s arms off and beat everyone with them. Not to mention stomping and literally ripping people in half. Which I’m a fan of unique kill/gory fight scenes, so I’m all for it. Just wasn’t expecting it. Nicholas Cage and Hoult both play their parts great. Even though it’s not as much a horror comedy but more an action movie, it is still entertaining and worth watching. I give it a 7/10.

The Whale

“The Whale” is a 2022 drama based on the play with the same name, it stars Brendan Fraser (George of the Jungle), Sadie Sink (Stranger Things), Ty Simpkins (Insidious), and Hong Chau (The Menu).

“The Whale” is about 600-pound recluse who tries to reconcile his relationship with his estranged teenage daughter before he dies from congestive heart failure.

I’ve been wanting to see this since it was first announced. I like Sadie Sink, I think she’s a great actress and I love seeing Brendan Fraser having a big comeback after being black balled by Hollywood for all those years. Unfortunately, it didn’t come to a theater near me, but it’s available at Redbox now. The acting is very solid from both Fraser and Sink. The movie is a let down however. The movie is two hours and it feels every bit of that. The story is very slow, the entire movie is set in Fraser’s apartment. Which makes sense, he a 600 pound recluse, but nothing really happens. Even the trying to reconcile his relationship with his daughter doesn’t really go anywhere. I get where the writer is paralleling this story with Moby Dick, but it just falls flat. I was expecting a lot more from this film. I give it a 6/10.

Willy’s Wonderland

‘Willy’s Wonderland’ is a 2021 horror movie staring Nicholas Cage (National Treasure), Emily Tosta (Party of Five), Beth Grant (Donnie Darko), Ric Reitz (Safe Haven), Caylee Cowan (Bad Detectives), and Terayle Hill (House of Payne).

A quiet loner’s car (Cage) breaks down in a tiny rural town. The mechanic only accepts cash to fix the car, which the loner naturally doesn’t have, to pay off the debt he agrees to spend the night and clean up Willy’s Wonderland (think Chuck E. Cheese), an abandoned family fun center. Little does he know the animatronic band comes to life to feast on human blood, and he’s just a sacrifice.

I’ve been waiting for this movie to come to Redbox, I was really excited when this was first released. It was 20 dollars to watch on streaming sites, I’m all for supporting movies, especially since the movie industry has taken a huge hit due to the pandemic. With that said though, Nicholas Cage has fallen out of the A list celeb group into the B list Category. I can’t think of any of his movies that haven’t gone straight to DVD in the past few years, so 20 dollars for a B horror movie staring Nicholas Cage is a little steep. Alright back to the movie.

So this is basically ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ turned into a movie, if you’re unfamiliar with ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ it is a horror survival game where you play as a night employee at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a fictional family fun center. Like this movie, the animatronics come to life at night, and you must defend yourself. Someone is a fan of this game and ran with it, and turned it into a movie, just amped up. This is the type of movie, you’re either going to like it or hate it. It’s a weird concept, Nicholas cage doesn’t say a word the entire movie, legit not one word, and Caylee Cowan plays a dumb bimbo who looks like she came out of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. Not to mention once the animatronics start attacking Nicholas Cage, they look like bad mascot outfits. So yes, it’s weird. Surprisingly though, I really liked this film. The thing that bugged me the most was Caylee Cowan’s character, it was pointless, but watching a silent Nicholas Cage fight possessed animatronics to death is pretty awesome. I could easily see this movie becoming a cult classic. It’s not a quality movie, it’s like ‘Killer Klowns from Outer Space’ it’s so terrible and looks so bad that it actually is good, and Killer Klowns is a cult classic. Like I said it’s a weird movie and not for everyone, but I enjoyed it, I give it a 7/10. B list Nick Cage did not disappoint me.

Crisis

‘Crisis’ is a 2021 drama/thriller focusing on the opioid epidemic. It tells three different stories, a once struggling addict who just lost her teenage son in a murder made to look like an overdose, a undercover cop trying to take down a big player in the opioid game, and a professor who is doing research for big pharma who comes up with some results they don’t favor.

‘Crisis’ stars Gary Oldman (Bram Stroker’s Dracula), Armie Hammer (The Lone Ranger), Evangeline Lilly (Ant-Man), Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine), Indira Varma (Luther), and Guy Nadon (Vice Cache)

The drug that is used in this film is a fake drug, but it doesn’t change the fact how serious of an issue opioid abuse is, and this movie hits that mark. The professor’s university tries to have him bought off and suppress his results in favor for big pharma, since the company is a big donor to the university. Sad thing is, that is exactly what would happen in that situation. It’s a gripping movie, the story is good and so is the acting. I found this little gem in Redbox, I give it a 8/10.

Alone

‘Alone’ is a 2020 horror/thriller starring Jules Wilcox (Bloodline), Marc Menchaca (The Outsider), and Anthony Heald (The Silence of the Lambs). Jessica (Wilcox) is recently windowed, she packs up and leaves the city to start anew. While traveling she is followed by a man (Menchaca) who ultimately abducts her and keeps her captive in a remote cabin. She must find a way to escape, her very survival depends on it.

This is a cat and mouse movie at it’s best. Think of ‘Unhinged’ and ‘What Keeps You Alive’, both are great cat and mouse movies with a demented villain, mix them together and you get ‘Alone’. A psychopath is following her on the road (‘Unhinged’), once abducted she manages to escape and is fighting for survival in the woods (‘What Keeps You Alive’). Wilcox and Menchaca both play great roles, if you look up creeper in the dictionary I’m pretty sure you would see Menchaca’s character. Thick rimmed square glasses, a mustache, and the creepy gaze. It gives you the willies just looking at him. I don’t believe in spoilers so I’ll leave it at this, the ending is great. You can currently check this one out in Redbox, I give it a 7/10.

Love and Monsters

‘Love and Monsters’ is a 2020 adventure monster film starring Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf), Jessica Henwick (The Defenders), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Ariana Greenblatt (Avengers: Infinity War).

The world has been hit with an asteroid causing bugs and other creatures to mutate several times their size to monstrous size. 90 percent of the human population has been wiped out within a year and, the survivors have been forced to live underground in colonies. Joel (O’Brien) decides to go to the surface and travel 85 miles (7 days) to his girlfriends colony, who he hasn’t seen in seven years. The hard part isn’t the 85 mile trek but surviving the monster infested surface.

Think of ‘Daybreak’, ‘Zombieland’, and ‘Warm Bodies’ all mixed together. It’s the end of the world (essentially), and a kid is doing whatever it takes to find his girlfriend (take ‘Daybreak’). He has a list of rules to survival (‘Zombieland’), and it has the same sense of humor as ‘Warm Bodies.’ Honestly I was surprised at how good this movie is. The monsters look a little cheesy, but that’s the only downfall. It’s fresh, funny, and a light hearted post apocalyptic movie. Plus the main character teams up with a furry four legged friend, and who wouldn’t like that? You can currently find it in Redbox, I give it a 7.5

The Owners

Since it’s Spooktober, I’m going to continue with the scary/horror movies, even though that’s the majority of what I watch anyway. ‘The Owners’ is a 2020 horror movie from England starring Maisie Williams (The New Mutants), Sylvester McCoy (Doctor Who), Rita Tushingham (Doctor Zhivago), and Andrew Ellis (Clink). Three friends decide to rob an elderly couples house, who are loaded, one of the friends girlfriends unwillingly gets involved when the elderly couple comes home earlier than expected. Things quickly go from bad to worse when the elderly couple decides to fight back.

There are several movies where robbers break in and it quickly goes wrong for them. For instance ‘Becky’, that I recently reviewed, or even the classic ‘Home Alone’ is the same presence. What separates ‘The Owners’ is the elderly couple turns out to be evil, and I mean evil. You’re cheering for the robbers to get away the whole time. This movie screws with your head, and has you glued to the TV wanting to find out what happens, and what exactly the elderly couple is hiding. I love horror movies that do this versus pointless gore and killing, a good horror film needs a strong plot behind it. The only downfall with ‘The Owners’ is it basically finishes up a hour in, then the last half hour feels dragged out, and it takes a weird turn towards the end. Overall it’s a solid horror movie and is worth checking out. The Plot is good, The acting is good, and it keeps you intrigued. You can check this one out at your local Redbox. I give it an 8/10.

Becky

‘Becky’ is a 2020 horror/thriller by Redbox Productions, which I didn’t know Redbox put out their own films until I rented this one. ‘Becky’ stars Kevin James (King of Queens), Lulu Wilson (Annabelle: Creation), Joel McHale (Tiger King Special), Robert Maillet (Sherlock Holmes), and Amanda Brugel (The Handmaid’s Tale). ‘Becky’ is about a teen girl and her father who go to their cabin in the woods with his new fiancé and her son. Becky is mad at her father since her mother has only passed away a year ago, she hides out in her treehouse out of spite and anger. While hiding out a group of white supremacists break out of prison and hide out at her father’s cabin. It’s up to Becky to save herself, and her family.

‘Becky’ is an interesting movie, it deserves to have its place in ‘Bloody Disgusting’. You see a guy chop off his own eye through its optical nerve with a butcher knife on a cutting board. If that doesn’t deserve its place in ‘Bloody Disgusting’, I don’t know what does. Also Kevin James is an interesting casting choice. He’s known for his goofy comedies, ‘King of Queens’, ‘Paul Blart Mall Cop’, ‘Here Comes the Boom’, etc… This movie is not a comedy by any means, Kevin James plays the main Neo Nazi leader, it’s equivalent to casting Will Ferrell, David Spade, or Adam Sandler in this role. I give Kevin James this though, he plays the part very well. If bloody horror movies aren’t your thing, give this one a pass, but I think it’s shocking in a good way. I give it a 7/10.