"Renfield" — a modern furthering of the "Dracula" story starring Nicolas Cage as the dark prince himself with Nicholas Hoult in the title role as his codependent familiar — celebrated its world premiere on Thursday in New Orleans on the opening night of The Overlook Film Festival.
As Salon's in-house New Orleanian, and someone who has been a fan of both vampire lore and Cage's work since an early age, I jumped at the chance to attend. Arriving early for the press line and staying late for a Q&A after the film, I was able to hear firsthand from Cage, director Chris McKay, executive producer Samantha Nisenboim and screenplay writer Ryan Ridley how infusing horror with comedy results in a gory, action-packed masterpiece that effectively sets itself apart from the Dracula films that have come before it.
