#Slapdash uk movie#

That would be Renfield ( Nicholas Hoult), the tyrannical Transylvanian monster’s “familiar,” who decades ago fell into unholy servitude-an origin story that’s recounted in a cheeky Tod Browning-style black-and-white intro-and is now unhappy with his eternal lot in life finding food for his master. They’re just time-fillers designed to cast the material in a slightly more superhero-ish light-a notion underlined by the fact that its protagonist gains his amazing physical powers by consuming his favorite snack: insects. This turns out to be a false assumption, as there’s absolutely nothing amusing or creative about the film’s numerous ultra-violent set pieces. Apparently, the director believes that staging gruesome one-against-many skirmishes will generate laughs so long as a few limbs are torn off and bodies are obliterated in explosions of blood.

He’s the prince of pretentious darkness, and the saving grace of this otherwise slapdash variation on the Bram Stoker legend.ĭirector Chris McKay’s follow-up to The Tomorrow War is ostensibly a horror-comedy, yet in one of many misbegotten decisions, Renfield places an inordinate amount of emphasis on R-rated supernatural action. Sporting a pasty complexion, slicked-back hair, and a variety of stylish suits (including one that’s luscious red velvet, and another with glittering black lapels) that go perfectly with his top hat and cane, his Count is a distinctly Cage-ian riff on Bela Lugosi-all heavily accented diabolical imperiousness and giggling, twittering, freakish affectation.

#Slapdash uk movie#

Nicolas Cage never met a movie whose scenery he couldn’t chew, and Renfield gives the star an ideal opportunity to sink his teeth into a truly juicy role: Dracula, the legendary bloodsucker who feeds on humans, lives forever, and is engaged in a perpetual war with the church.