Renfield 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Renfield 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Two prior editions of Chris McKay's Renfield (2023) have been reviewed on our site. My colleague Marty Liebman covered the Universal US Blu-ray, while I wrote about Turbine Medien & Altitude Film UK's 4K last autumn. For our analyses of those releases, please refer to the linked reviews.

I love to eat bugs because they make me strong and powerful.

Renfield 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Scream Factory's new "Collector's Edition" comprises a two-disc 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and a standard Blu-ray that is housed in a slipcover matching the original theatrical poster art on the front of the case. I viewed Scream's 4K of Renfield in HDR10 on a QLED and in Dolby Vision on an OLED. While Scream's transfer is sourced from the same one that appears on the Turbine release, the encode and compression are better on the US edition. The feature occupies 49.5 GB of space on the DE/UK UHD discs while on the US UHD, it uses 56.8 GB of space. The rough average bitrate on the Turbine is 68.1 Mbps while the Scream sports a bitrate of about 74.4 Mbps.

The look of Renfield displays a wide color palette that's seen between frequently alternating bright and dimly-lit scenes. The HDR10 and the Dolby Vision encode in particular accent light sources coming through windows (even in long shots). In addition, there's a nice sheen on Dracula's red velvet coat amid sparse lighting in an interior scene (see Screenshot #2). Facial detail is highly impressive. I could see the faux grain stand out on the Super 8-like footage created for the 1931-style opening in a close shot of Renfield (Nicholas Hoult).

I upscaled the 1080p Blu-ray to 4K on my Panasonic player. The quality of the transfer is very comparable to the Universal transfer Marty reviewed. I didn't spot any source noise. Also, I thought I saw a compression artifact grace the screen in a two-shot of Tedward Lobo (Benjamin Schwartz) and his mother, Bellafrancesca Lobo (Shohreh Aghdashloo). However, after replaying this shot a few times, it's clear that Tedward's head movement (especially his long nose), distracted my attention. In any case, I couldn't locate any compression artifacts on the BD-50, which also contains an hour-long making-of doc discussed in the Supplements section. The feature presentation on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50 boasts a mean video bitrate of 32000 kbps.

Screenshot #s 1-5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, & 30 = Scream Factory 2025 4K Ultra HD BD-66 (downsampled to 1080p)
Screenshot #s 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 19, 22, 25, & 28 = Turbine Medien & Altitude Film UK 2024 4K Ultra HD BD-66 (downsampled to 1080p)
Screenshot #s 17, 20, 23, 26, & 29 = Scream Factory 2025 BD-50
Screenshot #s 31-40 = Dracula Sucks! (legacy doc)

The standard twelve chapter selections accompany the 93-minute film.

Renfield 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Scream has supplied three audio track options to watch Renfield with on UHD and Blu-ray (in addition to a group commentary rehashed from the Turbine releases): the original Dolby Atmos mix (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible with a standard bitrate of 4259 kbps) encoded at an average bitrate of 4899 kbps and a maximum bitrate of 7644 kbps; a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround mix (2600 kbps, 24-bit); and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo downmix (1689 kbps, 24-bit). I listened to the Atmos and the 5.1 on the 4K and Blu-ray, respectively. Dialogue sounds a little lower along the fronts on the Atmos compared to the 5.1, which is warmer and higher in register for the spoken words. Renfield's voice-overs and some of the "softer" exchanges between the characters are a tad higher on the 5.1. However, the Atmos does a commendable job of accenting several words that Dracula selectively enunciates to Renfield in the latter's colorful studio apartment. The Atmos definitely delivers a greater circular ambience in its deployment of sound f/x. The surrounds are very active on the 5.1. There's a crispness to the f/x when bodies collide and weapons are unleashed to their targets. During the action sequences, several parts of Marco Beltrami's score are stylistically reminiscent of Danny Elfman's scores from the late '80s and early '90s. Beltrami's music has grown on me while listening to it again within the film.

Scream's optional English SDH are accurate, thorough, and complete. When a ballad plays, the track identifies its name and the artist. If you have a UHD Blu-ray player with several subtitle display options, you might be able to get the SDH to display beneath the picture and only along the black border like I was able to do. On my Panasonic UHD player, I was able to get all of the text to appear beneath the image track without cutting off the font at all. (1) I pressed the Option key on my UHD player's remote control; (2) in the Operation Menu, I scrolled down to Subtitle Settings; (3) I selected Subtitle Position; and (4) I decreased the placement value to -14, which fit all the words on my screen at the very bottom. I also was able to do this for the English SDH track on Scream's 4K/Blu-ray combo of Ghosts of Mars.

Renfield 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Scream has retained all of Universal's bonus materials and most of the extras that are on the Turbine. Absent from the latter are a US teaser trailer as well as some German trailers and TV spots. Scream has added a recently produced legacy documentary.

DISC ONE: 4K UHD

• Audio Commentary with Producer Samantha Nisenboim, Screenwriter Ryan Ridley, and Crew Members - the full participants in this commentary are: producer Samantha Nisenboim, screenwriter Ryan Ridley, assistant editor Noah Cody, supervising sound editors Nancy Nugent Title and John Marquis, visual effects supervisor James E. Price, makeup effects artist Christien Tinsley and supervising digital colorist Dave Cole. The track is moderated by Nisenboim. The crew cover a wide variety of topics. Given the number of contributors, it's surprising the track isn't that disjointed. It's actually relatively well balanced. All participants speak in English, not subtitled.

• Audio Commentary with Producer Samantha Nisenboim, Screenwriter Ryan Ridley, and Crew Members - the full participants in this commentary are: producer Samantha Nisenboim, screenwriter Ryan Ridley, assistant editor Noah Cody, supervising sound editors Nancy Nugent Title and John Marquis, visual effects supervisor James E. Price, makeup effects artist Christien Tinsley and supervising digital colorist Dave Cole. The track is moderated by Nisenboim. The crew cover a wide variety of topics. Given the number of contributors, it's surprising the track isn't that disjointed. It's actually relatively well balanced. All participants speak in English, not subtitled.

• NEW & EXCLUSIVE Dracula Sucks!: How I Survived the Making of RENFIELD (1:01:41, 1080p, Dolby Digital 2.0) - this recent one-hour program is a Ballyhoo Motion Pictures presentation produced and directed by Daniel Griffith. It consists of four sections: "The Script," "The Cast," "The Production," and "The Opening." (Note: Scream hasn't provided any shortcuts to each section in the popup menu. Also, you can skip ahead by one chapter to the middle with your remote.) We hear from the following: screenwriter Ryan Ridley, producer/director Chris McKay, costume designer Lisa Lovaas, actor Ben Schwartz, production designer Alec Hammond, executive producer Todd Lewis, stunt coordinator Christopher Brewster, and special effects coordinator Ty Abrahams. The making-of doc does a fine job of extrapolating on topics covered in Universal's EPK featurettes and adding some items. For example, Ridley explains a key difference between Renfield's treatment and the screenplay. McCay, Schwartz, and some of the crew members deliver mini-commentaries on scenes from the film, which are intercut between their remarks. Cut scenes are also discussed and expansive coverage is given to the movie's opening and the motel sequence. Previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage in the form of pre-filmed stunt/fight choreography exercises, production stills, storyboards (sometimes animated), original animatics, and extracts from the Renfield script are shown. The materials were lent to Griffith to incorporate into his doc by Hammond, Abrahams, McKay, and Fotokem's David Cole. I would have liked to have heard more about how John Landis's Innocent Blood (1992), which is mentioned by McKay, served as a creative inspiration for Renfield. Dracula Sucks! occupies 6.42 GB on the disc and boasts an average video bitrate of 13999 kbps. All interviewees speak in English, not subtitled. See Screenshot #s 31-40.

• Deleted & Extended Scenes (17:32 total runtime, 1080p) - eight excised scenes play in succession with the following titles printed on vintage-looking cue cards: Open (1:41), Lobo Compound & Murder Room (3:18), Renfield's Dance! (2:40),Mark Gives Renfield Advice (2:17), Newscaster (0:45), Lobo Gang Meet Dracula (1:56), CoDA Kill (1:03), and Apartment Fight (3:49). All are extensions on what is already in the finished film. Each omitted scene is presented in 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Stereo 2.0. In English, not subtitled.

• Alternate Takes (3:18, 1080p) - alternate takes from three different scenes in Renfield. It seems that several of the actors may have improvised their lines. In English, not subtitled.

• Monsters & Men: Behind the Scenes of Renfield (12:35, 1080p) - a promotional featurette with interview extracts from the actors who appear on other featurettes on this disc, as well as screenwriter Ryan Ridley, producers David Alpert, Bryan Furst and Sean Furst, Robert Kirkman, and Samantha Nisenboim. Also interviewed are costume designer Lisa Lovaas, production designer Alec Hammond, and special effects prop foreman Matthew Hall. The piece shows BTS footage and brief excerpts from Dracula (1931) and Dracula (1979). The actors discuss their characters and the film's locales. In English, not subtitled.

• Dracula UnCaged (4:48, 1080p) - a short featurette about Nicolas Cage playing Dracula. We hear from actors Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Cage as well as producers Samantha Nisenboim and Robert Kirkman. Cage explains his preparatory process for the iconic role and the inspiration he drew from Max Schreck in Murnau's Nosferatu (1922) as well as other screen portrayals of the Count. In English, not subtitled.

• Stages of Rejuvenation (6:15, 1080p) - a featurette that examines the physical transformation of Dracula. Appearing on camera to offer their thoughts on this process are Alpert, Cage, Bryan Furst and Sean Furst, Kirkman, Nisenboim, and makeup effects artist Christien Tinsley. The program shows the makeup stages Cage underwent to become the character. Tinsley highlights a 3D printer used to generate props. In English, not subtitled.

• Flesh & Blood (5:23, 1080p) - a piece that looks at gore and makeup effects. The interviewees include actors Awkwafina, Cage, Hoult, Marcus Lewis, Adrian Martinez, and Schwartz. Also featured are Kirkman, Lovaas, Ridley, and Tinsley. In English, not subtitled.

• Fighting Dirty (6:12, 1080p) - a featurette that discusses the stunt work in Renfield. We see footage from training sessions, rehearsals, and examples of fight choreography. Interview snippets are presented of Awkwafina, Cage, Hoult, and Schwartz. Crew members interviewed are Hammond and 2nd unit director/stunt coordinator Christopher Brewster. In English, not subtitled.

• The Making of a Deleted Scene: Renfield's Dance! (3:34, 1080p) - a brief featurette showing a glimpse into the dance choreography and acrobatics from a scene that was omitted from the final cut. In addition to BTS footage, the talking heads include Hammond, Hoult, Lovaas, and choreographer Kathryn "Kat" Burns. In English, not subtitled.

• Trailer (2:26, 1080p) - the American theatrical trailer for Renfield presented in 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Stereo 2.0 (192 kbps).

Renfield 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Renfield adroitly combines vintage and contemporary tropes of the classic vampire film. It tries to merge a redemption story in its narrative along with a crime family dramedy, which is too much for a feature this large in scope to tell in 93 minutes. I also felt that a subplot was telegraphed early, making its potential outcome predictable in the middle. Still, the stellar performances by Hoult, Cage, and Awkwafina make the movie worth seeing. Technically, Scream Factory's 4K UHD is superior to Turbine's 4K. The new making-of doc is pretty informative and very solid overall. It's probably a deal breaker if you're choosing between the Scream and Turbine releases. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.