Who is Renfield? If you love horror movies, vampire movies, or Nicolas Cage movies (and who doesn’t?) then you’ve likely heard about the new Nicholas Hoult movie Renfield.
That’s right: Nicolas Cage will be starring as Dracula, and Nicholas Hoult will be starring as his devoted servant Renfield in the new horror comedy movie, which looks to take inspiration from the TV series What We do in the Shadows. The first trailer for the gory thriller movie promised plenty of laughs, camp, and blood, but with the Renfield movie release date now on the horizon, you probably still have a lot of questions.
Among those will be, who is Renfield exactly, and what will the Renfield movie focus on? Is it an adaption of the Dracula novel, or will it be an entirely new take?
Who is Renfield?
In the new horror comedy movie, Renfield is Dracula’s servant who looks after him and brings him his delicious food (that is, humans). He ensures that his vampiric master is looked after, but explains that they are actually locked in a “toxic relationship”, which might be an understatement. The new movie will follow him attempting to leave Dracula and his growing romance with a character played by Awkwafina.
Renfield is a prominent character in the Dracula novel by gothic horror author Bram Stoker. He is formerly Dracula’s servant who has been driven insane. The book follows him as he eats flies, then spiders, then birds, going up the food chain believing he can obtain their life force.
In the Renfield movie, the character will be different to versions of Renfield who we’ve seen before on the big screen. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, for example, Renfield was portrayed in a more book-accurate way, being locked in an asylum and desperate to be reunited with his master. In the new Renfield movie, the character appears to be much more grounded, and desperate to escape from Dracula’s clutches.
Does Renfield have superpowers in the Renfield movie?
It looks that way from the trailer, which shows the Nicholas Hoult’s character chowing down on an insect, seemingly giving him improved reaction times and strength. So, there’s going to be plenty of novelty in the new 2023 movie which appears to be taking Dracula and Renfield in very different directions.
If you love gothic horror, check out our The Pale Blue Eye review. Or, take a look at our picks for the best zombie movies and the best werewolf movies.