We’ll soon be treated to the world’s most renowned vampire on-screen once more. Adding to the fans’ delight and excitement, Nicolas Cage will star as the bloodthirsty Transylvanian Count in Chris McKay’s upcoming film Renfield.
But this time, the focus won’t be on Dracula, but on his titular tortured, traumatized assistant and slave, Renfield, that is played by The Menu star Nicholas Hoult.
If you have been following the earlier takes on this character, then you would know that Renfield is often an overlooked character whose portrayals have often been in relation to his manipulative master, who coerced him into servitude with the promise of granting him immortality.
Nevertheless, the film’s titular character has always managed to hold a significant position in the overall Dracula mythos as it underlines the Count’s keen manipulative abilities and his willingness to use them against those he deems powerless and reduce them into absolute submission.
The new horror comedy shows Renfield attempting to take control of his situation and collaborating with his friends to rid himself of his master.
While the seemingly new and exciting take on the character is creating a lot of buzz, the movie’s events are stated to be a continuation of the toxic relationship between the master and the servant. In an interview with Collider, filmmaker Chris McKay spoke about how his new film is a sequel to Tod Browning’s 1931 film Dracula, which revolves around Dracula’s relationship with Renfield, in particular along with his usual rampages and killing spree.
Following its release, two other Dracula movies were released. One in 1936 named Dracula’s Daughter and in 1943, Son of Dracula. But none of them featured either Renfield or Dracula. Speaking on why Renfield is a perfect sequel to Browning’s classic, McKay said:
“I kept telling marketing that that’s what we should say, that this is the only direct sequel. I guess you could argue ‘Dracula’s Daughter’ is a sequel because the opening scene is the aftermath of the Tod Browning movie, but Bela Lugosi’s not in it, it’s a whole different set of characters. And it’s a great movie, it’s wild if you haven’t seen it. I thought the movie was great. But to me, this is the only real direct sequel with the Dracula and the Renfield of that movie. So yeah, I wish they’d use that in the marketing. I think that would’ve been a funny way of positioning this movie. The longest time between the original movie and the sequel, beating ‘Psycho,’ or whatever. I guess ‘Avatar’ maybe now, since it feels like a long time since the first one.”
Opening up about how this new sequel is an homage to its predecessors with engaging plotlines and interesting portrayal of the titular characters, McKay added:
“I fell in love with the character of Renfield and his relationship with Dracula. Renfield is basically a guy who wants to get out of this bad relationship, and doesn’t know how—he’s been in this relationship for 93 years, and he wants to get out of it. I looked at this as an opportunity, because it has a lot of black comedy in it, there’s a lot of action in it, and there’s a little bit of suspense and drama in it too. So that, to me, seemed like a real fun combination. It’s not something that comes around the table very often. Something that’s obviously still tied to one of the oldest IPs in the world and probably one of the most filmed IPs in the world when you look at it. Dracula’s probably up there with Sherlock Holmes and Hamlet as far as literary characters that you see in movie after movie.”
With its release advancing closer, fans are excited to get a grasp on the tussle between the iconic duo.
Renfield will hit the theatres on April 21, 2023.