The History of Dracula's Most Devoted Familiar

Publish date: 2024-08-10

Bram Stoker's Dracula introduced characters that are almost mythological within pop culture: the Count himself, his de facto nemesis Van Helsing, and, naturally, the subject of the upcoming Renfield film from director Chris McKay and screenwriter Ryan Ridley. The name "Renfield" has been crucial to Dracula's iconography since Bram Stoker's book was published in 1897, and most film adaptations included him to some degree. McKay's iteration features none other than Nicolas Cage as the infamous vamp, upends the rule book by centering Renfield as the protagonist — deservedly so, given his intriguing psychology, his ties to his "master," and how the character is both ubiquitous yet underutilized.

What Is Renfield Like in the Original Book?

In Stoker's narrative, Renfield is an inmate at the sanatorium overseen by Dr. John Seward, one of the epistolary novel's point-of-view characters. Renfield's unique nature makes him a point of specific fascination for Seward, who describes him as immensely strong for his age (59 years old; surprise, Renfield's no spring chicken!), "morbidly excitable," and prone to "periods of gloom." Seward diagnoses his patient as zoophagous (carnivorous) because Renfield compulsively consumes a variety of animals to achieve immortality, which he craves above all else. He believes that the blood of living creatures is the key to eternal life. He begins with flies before moving up the food chain: spiders, birds, rats, and even asking Seward for a cat.

More than his glee over eating innocent animals or his moments of sinister rage, Renfield's single-minded focus is his most terrifying trait. He serves as a mirror to Dracula: a human who devours subservient, dispensable creatures for his gain. As such, Renfield worships Dracula, who promised Renfield immortality as long as Renfield obeyed his commands. Renfield grants Dracula access to the sanatorium and the vampire feeds off Mina Harker, the story's heroine, an act Renfield has no qualms over — until he meets Mina in person and experiences an inconvenient attack of conscience. Plagued by guilt but unable to explain the danger, Renfield attacks Dracula to try and protect Mina; the Count snaps Renfield's neck for his betrayal.

Renfield’s Film Origins Date Back to 1922

When it comes to Renfield's film history, he debuted in German director F. W. Murnau's 1922 silent film Nosferatu. Murnau didn't own the rights to Stoker's novel, so his production was illegal even though he changed the characters' names. Count Dracula became the nightmare-inducing Count Orlock (Max Schreck) and Renfield was renamed Knock (Alexander Granach), a duplicitous businessman who sends the young Thomas Hutter (Gustav von Wangenheim) to Orlock's castle. Knock winds up in a sanatorium but breaks free to terrorize the villagers while Orlock descends upon Thomas' wife Ellen (Greta Schröder). Werner Herzog's 1979 remake Nosferatu the Vampyre followed the same basic situation and characterization, with Renfield/Knock portrayed by actor Roland Topor.

Dwight Frye Defined the Character of Renfield for Almost 100 Years

The 1931 American-made Dracula, starring the prototypical Bela Lugosi, is slightly more faithful to the novel as well as the moment Renfield (Dwight Frye) caught fire with moviegoers. Director Tod Browning's film uses a very sane Renfield as its introductory character; he ventures to Dracula's Transylvanian home to close a real estate deal with the Count. Dracula feeds off Renfield and enslaves the man into his control before the pair travel to England. The ominously cackling man is too far gone to pass as a "normal" human, so the authorities house him in Seward's hospital.

Facets of Frye's performance might seem campy to modern audiences, but that's part of its sneakily brilliant legacy. The rest of the Dracula cast plays the film straight, aside from Lugosi's more elaborately delivered lines. Frye is automatically the stand-out, especially given his transformation from a professional, polite solicitor into a hissing, spitting, inhuman creature. There's a feral, animalistic quality to Frye's widened eyes and wretched grin, a chilling edge to his maniacal laugh, and an almost rapturous tone to his famous "rats" speech. We instantly and implicitly understand Dracula's effect on those he doesn't kill, which, based on Renfield, is a threat worse than death. History was effectively made. Future actors based their performances on Frye's turn, including Peter MacNicol of the parody Dracula: Dead and Loving It and Renfield lead Nicholas Hoult. During Collider staff's visit to the set of Renfield, Hoult cited Frye as a direct inspiration and wove similar aspects into his performance.

Renfield in Later Films and Television

As the cultural perception of vampires shifted over the decades into something more openly seductive, and as the Dracula IP proved to be semi-consistently lucrative at the box office, so did the interpretations of Renfield evolve — or the lack thereof. The 1958 Horror of Dracula from Hammer Films (starring Christopher Lee, Nicolas Cage's favorite Dracula) and Frank Langella's 1979 film both removed the character entirely. Director Jesús Franco's Count Dracula hewed relatively closer to the novel and saw Klaus Kinski as a more reserved but remarkably bleak, foreboding Renfield. Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, meanwhile, minimized Renfield's (Tom Waits) role in the grand scheme of things and made him jealous of Mina Harker's (Winona Ryder) intimate relationship with Dracula (Gary Oldman).

Television went wild. Of all things, Renfield's longest-running stint was in the British children's series Young Dracula, which ran for five seasons. This Renfield (Simon Ludders) is a mental and physical mess but devoted to the Dracula family, basically serving as their butler for centuries. A far more adult Renfield (Sam Barnett)joined the cast of Penny Dreadful's third season as Dr. Florence Seward's (Patti LuPone) very lonely secretary-turned-vampire-servant, while Mark Gatiss' Frank Renfield was Dracula's lawyer in the BBC's 2020 Dracula miniseries. Another BBC production from 1977, Count Dracula, portrays Renfield (Jack Shepherd) accurately to Stoker's novel and with great sympathy. He's more tortured and mournful than adoring, a desperate man trapped in Dracula's web. Interestingly enough, although Shepherd was obviously not pushing 60 years old, this is one of the few adaptations to hint at Renfield's proper age by using fake gray hair. (Why not; it's something.)

Renfield’s Future Looks Pretty Great (If He Can Escape His Boss)

Speaking of age: although Nicholas Hoult is a spiritedly 33, Renfield acts as a direct sequel to the 1931 Dracula. Not only is Hoult's Renfield well over one hundred and rocking that vampiric benefit of always looking youthful, but Hoult also plays a reinterpretation of cinema's most iconic and defining Renfield. That's no small thing to inherit, but Hoult's track record of impressive performances and both Renfield trailers indicate he's more than up to the task.

Renfield was originally part of the failed Dark Universe project that started and ended with 2017's The Mummy reboot. Although Chris McKay told Total Film he has ideas for a sequel of his own, he also stated that doesn't consider Renfield a second reboot of the Universal Monsters Cinematic Universe concept. Wherever Renfield lands within the Universal canon, the crew's love for the original material exudes from every creative choice. Their new approach to the mythos sounds immensely promising.

And, heck, the character of Renfield has proved so popular over time that psychologist Richard Noll invented "Renfield's syndrome," also known as clinical vampirism or vampire personality disorder. The pseudo-term refers to individuals who mimic Renfield's ideology and personality, or imagine themselves as vampires. The long-suffering assistant deserves his time to finally shine.

Renfield is currently playing in theaters.