Warning: This article contains spoilers about Renfield.The Guinness Book of World Records lists Bram Stoker’s Dracula as “the most portrayed literary character in film” and Renfield is full of Dracula & Universal monsters Easter eggs and references that pay homage to the famous horror icon. Directed by Chris McKay, the dark comedy stars Nicholas Hoult as Renfield, Dracula’s hapless minion, and Nicolas Cage as the Prince of Darkness himself and a truly demanding employer. As Renfield endeavors to leave Dracula’s employ, he joins a support group and teams up with an altruistic police officer (Awkwafina) while Dracula joins forces with the Lobo crime family to take over the city.
Throwing a wrench into the longstanding relationship between Dracula and his faithful servant offers a unique way to reflect on all the Dracula media of the last hundred years, with attention to detail in every frame. Not only are there homages to the many actors who have portrayed Dracula over the decades, but also Renfield, and lots of vampire lore. Now Renfield is part of the great tradition of bringing not only Dracula to life but one of his most crucial partnerships, while at the same time operating as a collection of Universal horror movie history since The Count has been around since the inception of cinema.
15 Nosferatu
One of Cage’s earliest memories is of seeing Nosferatu when he was just five years old, leaving an indelible impression on the actor, so it’s fitting that this version of Dracula makes an appearance in the film. Before Dracula is back to his full power, he’s bald and decaying, with large, floppy ears and a scrunched face, making him look like Nosferatu as he shuffles around, careful to avoid sunlight and waiting for Renfield to bring him victims. Until Bela Lugosi portrayed Dracula as a sophisticated villain, Nosferatu was the definitive Hollywood vampire
14 1931 Dracula
Renfield begins with a prologue chronicling Dracula and Renfield’s history that plays out like a continuation of Tod Browning’s 1931 Dracula, with a little technical wizardry replacing Bela Lugosi’s Dracula with Nicolas Cage, and Dwight Frye’s Renfield with Nicholas Hoult. That movie ended with Renfield dying, while this movie imagines what would have happened if Dracula had simply resurrected him, allowing Renfield to serve him faithfully for 100 years while still appearing to be a young man. The visual effects are seamless, and Cage channels Lugosi’s continental charm while Hoult does his best to emulate a bit of Frye’s manic performance, right down to the frenetic laughter.
13 Swan Lake
Browning’s Dracula was not only successful as a monster movie, but it also made use of new technology for the time – synchronized sound. The movie doesn’t have much of a soundtrack, which actually adds to its eerie ambiance, and makes what music it does use particularly compelling, specifically Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake,” Opus 20 over the movie’s opening credits (which was also chosen to open Universal monster movie The Mummy the following year). Renfield pays homage to this classic with a direct Dracula reference – not only is “Swan Lake” heard in the opening of the movie, but a copy of the record is also seen in Dracula’s lair.
12 Hammer Studios Sets
Beginning with Horror of Dracula in 1958, Hammer Studios made Dracula movies with Christopher Lee embodying the Prince of Darkness well into the ’70s. Their distinct aesthetic and tone have set the standard for Dracula (and vampire) films. Full of tapestries, candelabras, and sumptuous set dressings, they have a richness to them despite being relatively meager in budget, and thanks to production designer Alec Hammond shots in Dracula’s former castle look like they’re pulled right out of a Hammer Studios Dracula movie.
11 Horror Of Dracula Puppet Gag
In Horror of Dracula, Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing famously runs across Dracula’s banquet table, leaps into the air, and pulls down the drapes, exposing Dracula to the harsh light of day and turning him into ash with a practical puppet gag. Renfield does something similar when it exposes Cage’s Dracula to sunlight and also incorporates a puppet gag as his body bursts into flames in homage to that dynamic scene. Unlike in that version, however, Dracula has the wherewithal to transform into a cluster of bats and escape, highlighting how strong his survival instinct is.
10 Francis Ford Coppola’s Gary Oldman Dracula
Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula isn’t a faithful adaptation of the novel, but it remains one of the most popular versions of the Dracula story with Gary Oldman as a lovelorn vampire. Inside the medallion that Cage’s Dracula wears there’s a picture of him in the red suit of armor that Oldman wore in Bram Stoker’s Dracula as Vlad Tepes, with inspiration from samurai armor as well as the sinews of human flesh that make “Vlad the Impaler” look particularly intimidating in the film. This little Dracula Easter egg shows how much McKay was committed to showing respect for other directors’ visions of the character.
9 Dracula’s Castle
Dracula is known for having a foreboding castle in Transylvania, but after murdering so many people and being hunted down, Renfield has to continuously find new places for him and his boss to live. When they come to New Orleans, Renfield finds an abandoned hospital that will work as their next domicile, and it happens to look like a 1930s castle. Other than places like Hearst Castle, there aren’t very many castles in America, but it’s fitting that Renfield would do its best to include one for Dracula from an appropriate time period.
8 Candles From Frank Langella’s Dracula In 1979
In John Badham’s 1979 Dracula, Frank Langella (who also performed the part on Broadway) plays Dracula as a Gothic antihero and lover, and the movie is credited with turning Dracula into even more of a sex symbol by focusing on his victim’s seduction. Even though Cage’s new lair is in an abandoned hospital, it still evokes an Old World, romantic charm, and there are hundreds of candles just like in Langella’s movie covering all the surfaces, establishing Dracula as someone who needs his surroundings to reflect elegance and opulence. Langella makes many of his most charismatic seductions in rooms overflowing with candles, and Cage’s Dracula does the same.
7 Dracula Bug Coffins
Browning’s Dracula includes shots of potato bugs, known to be nocturnal and even consume dead flesh, emerging from tiny coffins, giving the movie an even creepier aesthetic. In Renfield, the bugs are once again kept in small containers (sometimes tiny coffins, sometimes matchboxes) and Renfield retrieves some as needed. When he eats them he’s transformed into a superhuman killing machine, able to rip someone’s arms off at the shoulders. Keeping Renfield’s bug diet in the movie while changing what it does for him is a good way to connect Hoult’s performance to Renfields of the past while still helping it feel fresh.
6 Dracula As A Rock Star
Dracula wears some beautiful and eccentric costumes in the film that make him look like a rock star. In fact, McKay wanted him to come across as an obnoxious, self-centered celebrity whose every whim is catered to, and costume designer Lisa Lovaas even made him a blood-red suit to look like legendary rock star David Bowie. Given that Lestat, Anne Rice’s famous literary vampire, also posed as a rock star from time to time (and in Queen of the Damned), it only makes sense that Dracula would often be mistaken for one.
5 Mulates Restaurant With Universal Monster Decor
New Orleans is one of the characters in Renfield itself, and the city’s charm is all over the movie, giving it a special aesthetic. One of Renfield’s most exciting action sequences takes place when Renfield is eating at Mulates, one of Nola’s oldest Cajun restaurants, and members of the Lobos gang interrupt his meal. The interior of the restaurant is decorated with Universal monster movie decor, from Frankenstein’s Monster and the Wolf Man to Dracula and the Invisible Man, and even the Lobos wear masks that make them look like werewolves! Unfortunately, the giant monster head on the front of the restaurant isn’t part of its real sign.
4 Christopher Lee’s Dracula
Christopher Lee has been in some of the best Dracula movies thanks to his collaboration with Hammer Studios, and due to his imposing height (6’5″), elegant demeanor, and threatening aura, his name has become synonymous with the role. Cage has stated he loves Lee’s Dracula best and clearly channels him with his imperious disposition, elegant clothing (one velvet dressing jacket even has “CD” for Count Dracula embroidered on it), and feral savagery – Lee had the unique ability to vacillate between charming aristocrat and ferocious monster. It’s a treat to see Cage tackle the traditional template of Dracula in all his glory, both before and after the present-day timeline in Renfield.
3 London After Midnight Fangs
Cage’s Dracula has a distinctly bestial appearance thanks to rows of razor-sharp teeth that make him look like an apex predator. Borrowing from Browning’s lost vampire film London After Midnight Cage pays homage to Lon Chaney Sr.’s monster design — which only survives in a few stills — by incorporating a top hat and shark-like teeth. Browning remade the movie into Mark of the Vampire in 1935 with Bela Lugosi, but Lon Chaney Sr.’s vampire remains burned into the imagination of horror lovers like McKay.
2 Dracula Mist And Bat Forms
Other than using characters from Bram Stoker’s novel, Renfield doesn’t have much to do with that story except for in its prologue. Direct references to Dracula include the transformative powers that the Prince of Darkness possesses when he’s at his full strength, which include turning into a mist and a cluster of bats. In Chapter 21 of Stoker’s acclaimed horror story, a severely wounded Renfield explains how Dracula came to the window in the form of a mist, asking to be let in, and Renfield was too weak to refuse him.
1 Scarface
While not exactly a Universal monster movie, Universal did distribute Scarface, in which Al Pacino played drug lord Tony Montana and cemented an iconic gangster into the pop culture zeitgeist. The end of Renfield’ references Scarface and Tony in the fight scenes at the Lobo’s mansion, which was built to look like Tony’s sprawling compound, complete with gold furnishings. Teddy (Ben Schwartz) even wears Tony’s signature black shirt during his final scenes in Renfield.
