In the early 2000's I coined the phrase "The Renfield Movement " to explain the rise in vampire fans. I had picked the character for the simple reason that he's the slave/servant of Dracula. Someone who blindly follows Dracula's orders either out of fear or love. At that time, the character of Renfield still wasn't getting the attention he deserved, and mostly appeared as a smaller role. The only claim to fame he really had was that a real life disorder was named after him, Renfield Syndrome; or Clinical Vampirism. A disorder that leaves the victim craving blood. Much as it's fictional namesake, who screams about needing a juicy spider or little cat because he needs lives.
But that was then, and now we are in 2023 with the new movie Renfield about to hit cinemas. Our favourite bug-eater is about to get his spotlight proving he's come along way since the 1931 film.
In anticipation for this new movie starring Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage; I've put together a list of movies that I personally think have the best portrayals of the Renfield character. Which, honestly is a fairly short list. With that in mind, I've added a handful of performances that represent the character of Igor, the lab assistant of Dr.Frankenstein. Igor is an offshoot of Renfield who was created by the same actor Dwight Frye. Two horror icons created by the same person to represent the same character. This character was originally named Fritz. This literally launched the character of the lab assistant, as the original novel Frankenstein never catered to a sidekick. It wouldn't be until Bela Lugosi himself appeared in the sequels that the character Ygor would be introduced.
This is a revamped version of an old blog post I've talked about more than once over the years.
Dracula (1931) Dwight Frye is the most well-known actor to play the role of Renfield, giving everyone the creeps with his wide eyes and high pitched laugh. He has been duplicated hundreds of times by other actors, but he holds the gold standard for this character.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) Musician and actor Tom Waits brings a quietness and subtlety to the role for the the first time. Unlike other performances, we never see him being a "renfield", as he still has his wits about him. Yet his take on the character is one of the strongest to date and stays in your memory long after you've watched the movie.
Dracula Dead and Loving It (1995) Renfield is played as a bumbling comic relief to perfection by Peter MacNicol. His performance is a cross between Dwight Frye's version and Arte Johnson's version.
Love At First Bite (1979) Arte Johnson plays Renfield in the vein of a 1970's sitcom character, which for this disco era Dracula works.
Fright Night (1985) Jonathan Stark plays Billy Cole, a ghoul. Stephen Geoffreys plays Evil Ed. This movie has two different characters in the role of "renfield", as the character of Evil Ed is a fledgling vamp.
Fright Night Part 2 (1988) Brian Thompson plays a ghoul named Bozworth.
The mythology of this franchise is iffy on why some fledglings turn into vampires and some become ghouls.
Vampire In Brooklyn (1995) Kadeem Hardison plays the character of Julius Jones, who is a ghoul. His performance is what helps to keep this movie balanced between a heavy horror and a buddy comedy. Again, this is one of those mythologies that has a fledgling vampire whom could become a full on vamp, but instead becomes a ghoul. His version of "Renfield" is witty and sympathetic.
Scars of Dracula (1970) The character of Klove is played by Patrick Troughton. This character straddles the line between classic "renfield" and Igor.
The Bride (1985) Timothy Spall plays the henchman character of Paulus, for a few minutes in the opening of the film. He so far, has the record for the shortest amount of screen time given to any "Igor" style character.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Riff Raff is an "Igor" which is the lab assistant non-ghoul version of Renfield and is played by Richard O'Brien. You could argue that the character of Magenta played by Patricia Quinn is also an "Igor" style character, but she's not treated in the same manner as Riff Raff is.
Frankenweenie (2012) Edgar E. Gore is voiced by Atticus Shaffer and is an "Igor" character. What makes this version work is that the character comes across as sleazy when he's supposed to be more desperate.
Victor Frankenstein (2015) One of the lead characters is named Igor, and played by Daniel Radcliffe. We're seeing the story through his point of view.
The Addams Family 2 (2021) Lurch is an interesting mix of characters. As the family butler, he falls into the category of "Igor" but is clearly meant to be a stand-in for Frankenstein, as the Addams Family appear to be mostly human. He's voiced in the animated version by Conrad Vernon.
Hotel Transylvania (2012) All the zombie staff
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