Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage star in a scene from the movie “Renfield.” The OSV News classification is O -- morally offensive. (OSV News photo/Michele K. Short, Universal Pictures)

By OSV News

Potentially enjoyable comic material is washed away by a flood of gore in this send-up of the horror genre.

Nicholas Hoult plays the titular character, the longtime but increasingly disaffected assistant to Dracula (Nicolas Cage). As he seeks to break free from his servitude and acquires a love interest in the person of a courageous New Orleans police officer (Awkwafina), screenwriter Ryan Ridley’s script riffs on the humorous comparison between his situation and that of people in more conventional unhealthy relationships. But both his struggle and his boss’ predations involve sickeningly over-the-top mayhem played for shock laughs, precluding endorsement of director Chris McKay’s sometimes campy romp for any age group.

Excessive bloody violence, frequent gruesome sights, drug use, a couple of profanities, a few milder oaths, pervasive rough language, numerous crude terms, an obscene gesture. The OSV News classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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