As early as a year ago, when I was talking to you about the movie "The Unbearable Weight of Genius", I said about Nicolas Cage's dedication as an actor.
Even in the "bad film period" of paying off gambling debts, his requirements for performance have never relaxed. It can even be said that many previous bad film works relied on him to support the whole scene alone.
After the debt was paid off, many fans began to look forward to how Cage, who could choose films on his own, would return to the Hollywood line.
This time he finally came, and Cage, who paid off his huge debt, released a new work - "Rainfield".
Unexpectedly, this Oscar actor, who once pushed off starring in the "Lord of the Rings" and "Matrix" series, chose to play a supporting actor this time.
It all starts with the vampire setting of "Rainfield".
In 1931, Universal Pictures launched the vampire-themed movie "Dracula", based on the novel by Bram Stoker, which tells the story of the vampire Count Dracula tired of castle life, turning a real estate agent named Reinfeld into a slave and instructing him to take him to London, causing a series of panic stories.
From today's point of view, "Dracula" is no longer a "good-looking" movie, with a slow narrative pace and a simple and direct plot.
But it overturned the stereotype of "monster" at the time, making Count Dracula the vampire elegant and gentlemanly, and became a model for movies of the same theme in the following decades.
This movie also made Universal Pictures, which "gambled" at that time, make a lot of money, and "Dracula" became one of the company's classic IPs, and there are countless actors who have played.
Among them, Cage admires the most is Christopher Lee (The Lord of the Rings' white-robed wizard Saruman) in many movies as "Dracula".
As early as the last century, Cage starred in a movie about vampires "Vampire Kiss", but the story has nothing to do with Dracula.
So it is not difficult to understand that even if the story "Dracula" becomes a supporting role this time, Cage will naturally not miss such an opportunity to pay tribute to his predecessors.
In addition, in 2017, in order to deal with the Marvel Universe and the DC Universe, Universal Pictures announced the creation of a "dark universe", combining "monster" IPs such as Mummies, Dracula, Frankenstein, and Invisible Man that are well-known in B-grade films into a universe.
The star lineup announced at that time included Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Russell Crowe, Javier Bardem, etc., and the "dark universe" movies that have been released so far include Tom's "The New Mummy" and Elisabeth Moss's "The Invisible Man".
Today's "Rainfield" is the third part of the "dark universe" that has taken shape, and Cage joining this universe is a good choice.
What's more surprising is that the actor who partnered with him this time is Nicholas Holt, who has cooperated before.
In 2005's "The Weatherman", Cage played Holt's father, and in this "Rainfield", Cage was Holt's "boss".
The story begins at the end of Dracula in 1931, when Rainfield becomes Dracula's slave, whose mission is to satisfy any needs of his master, find human blood for him, and help him resist the pursuit of vampire hunters.
As long as he eats the bug, Wrenfeld will gain a short-lived superpower of Megatron.
The most dangerous time for the master and servant was to encounter the Catholic Church and vampire hunters at the same time, and at the critical moment when Dracula was about to be destroyed, Rainfield chose to be sincere with his master and helped Dracula kill each other, but Dracula was severely burned by the sun.
For the next hundred years, Rainfield took the injured Dracula into seclusion, quietly searching for human blood for him, waiting for the owner to return to his original appearance.
However, in modern society, killing people quietly is no longer easy.
Rainfield's inner sense of morality is also more and more awakened, unwilling to kill good and innocent people to smoke Dracula, and often bring back the corpses of some street gangsters.
The blood of the evil man does not allow Dracula to recover quickly, and Dracula will be furious every time.
This long-term mental torture made Reinfeld feel more and more suffocated, and he learned from the modern human appearance and participated in mutual aid clubs, hoping to find a way out of life.
Dracula's oppression of Renfeld echoes the workplace bullying in contemporary society, which is also one of the most brilliant adaptations and interpretations of this film.
Count Dracula, a vampire a hundred years ago, is now the representative of workplace bullies.
He completely rejects the work of the slave, relegates Rainfield to nothing, and gives him self-doubt to control the commanding heights of workplace relationships.
He will also draw a pie with Rainfield, regardless of the external environment and his own strength, and ask Rainfield to die until he turns the people of the world into his own believers and food.
Dracula even often physically tortured Rainfield, cutting his abdomen without saying a word, making him painful, and then using his own blood to heal him when he was dying, further locking up Rainfield's dependence and loyalty to him.
And such bullying and PUA are not limited to the workplace.
Dracula in the film can also be a loved one who points fingers at you from the moral high ground in life, a partner who exerts mental control over you, or even an "idol" you have admired for a long time but hides another face.
In repeated debasement and self-doubt, many people lose themselves and become more obedient and dependent on bullies.
Until one day, Rainfield accidentally bumped into a policewoman who was not afraid of the threat of the gang and confronted him single-handedly.
He was immediately encouraged, ate insects and relied on his superpowers to help the policewoman fight off the gang, so he was grateful to the people present.
Rainfield suddenly realized that he could also be like the policewoman, confronting Dracula head-on and reclaiming the life that should have belonged to him.
He rented a new apartment without Dracula, took off his gloomy outfit, let go of the insects he carried, no longer relied on superpowers, and the whole person became sunny and positive.
However, at the same time, the gangster offended by Rainfield found Dracula in order to find out his identity. Dracula was furious to learn that the slave betrayed him, decided to join forces with the gang, and killed Rainfield...
The action scenes of the film are basically the operation of B-grade films, the blood bag of the crew seems to be scooped from the wholesale market, and it is not stingy to use, and the physical attack is not a simple fist to the flesh, but a bloody "looking for the head all over the ground".
The film ends in the standard Hollywood comedy mode, with Rainfield overcoming Dracula's PUA initiative to confront him, and the policewoman succeeds in creating a protective ring to trap Dracula.
The two eventually teamed up to unload Dracula into eight pieces, tried the method that had been circulating for a hundred years to destroy vampires, and finally washed the corpse into the sewer in cement...
As a vampire movie, the details of "Rainfield" are still done sincerely.
The film specifically uses clips from "Swan Lake" as BGM, and restores part of the plot of "Dracula" in 1931 as a tribute.
At the same time, the setting and taboo of Dracula and Rainfield in the film also tried to respect the original work, and carried out a certain degree of dramatic interpretation.
For example, as long as the powder (including white powder) draws a circle, it can trap Dracula, and any kind of invitation (including the welcome message written on the doormat) can let Dracula enter the door, etc., adding laughter to the film.
In addition, Nicolas Cage's interpretation of Dracula is indeed refreshing, not only more moody, but also has a strong sense of oppression, which meets the audience's expectations for the "monster" setting.
But objectively speaking, "Rainfield" cannot be called Cage's turnaround.
The narrative rhythm of this film is so-so, the scenes of the policewoman and the gangster are also very abrupt, if it can always revolve around Dracula's "workplace bullying and resistance" against Rainfield, this R-rated popcorn movie may resonate with more people.
In contrast, it is so much better than "Haunted" that hit the street some time ago, and curious friends may wish to watch it fresh.