2023 has been another incredible year for the horror genre, and we’re only at the end of May. One of the more underappreciated films to come out in the genre this year so far has been Renfield. The horror comedy based on Bram Stoker's Dracula focused on the Prince of Darkness’ title manservant, the blood and gore, and a very absurd yet endlessly charming comedic style. While the film received a stake through the heart at the box office, Universal Pictures has set summer release dates for Renfield on Blu-ray, DVD, and Peacock. The horror comedy will be released on Blu-ray & DVD on Tuesday, June 6 before streaming on Peacock three days later on Friday, June 9.
The Blu-ray release will come with a handful of blood-soaked extras. This includes extended and deleted scenes, alternate takes, a “Making-Of” the deleted scene for “Renfield’s Dance”, “Monsters & Men: Behind the Scenes of Renfield”, and “Dracula UnCage”. That latter of which unravels Nicolas Cage’s Dracula. You heard that right. This film’s biggest strength and selling point was Cage’s debut as the iconic Universal Monster. It was just as delightfully terrifying as it sounds. One of the best parts of Cage’s unhinged interpretation was his practical costume and stunning makeup effects work.
The Blu-ray will have a couple ghastly featurettes covering the look of Renfield, "Stages of Rejuvenation" and "Flesh & Blood". This horror comedy lives up to the Dracula namesake with a ton of blood-red madness and the film used many gallons of fake practical blood to achieve its gleeful R-rating. The death scenes found in Renfield are some of the goriest in recent memory, so it’s great to see that hard work get the spotlight here. The final major featurette “Fighting Dirty” goes into the killer fight scenes sprinkled throughout the film that lead up to those glorious death scenes. Lastly, like most major releases, the Blu-ray will have an audio commentary track with producer Samantha Nisenboim, screenwriter Ryan Ridley, and various other members of the crew.
Renfield: A Bloody Cult Classic in the Making
Renfield was the rare recent horror film to perform poorly at the box office. It wasn’t even the top horror release of its debut weekend, but what made Renfield, so special was the chemistry that Cage’s Dracula and Nicholas Hoult’s Renfield shared. How this scary fun pairing was used as an allegory for a toxic relationship was ingenious. That angle fed into both the horror and comedy so devilishly. One minute you’ll be laughing the fake fangs out of your mouth and the very next moment you’ll be swelling them thanks to a gnarly death scene or moody fright. This film is the perfect combination of the campy scares found in Universal’s original Dracula and the more carnage candy nature of the later Hammer films. Renfield’s up there with the best modern horror comedies like Happy Death Day, Freaky, and Ready or Not. It’s that good and is bound to become a cult classic in the coming years.
Where Can Renfield Be Watched?
If you can’t wait for the June Blu-ray & DVD, or Peacock releases on June 6 and June 9 respectively, Renfield can currently be rented on all major VOD platforms. You can watch Collider’s own Renfield interview with Cage and Hoult down below.