From a real hospital that's said to be haunted to a clever twist on an age-old vampire rule,
Renfield has a whole slew of tiny details that could easily
be overlooked. Here's what you might have missed.
Right from the jump, Renfield firmly establishes, in the most tongue-in-cheek way possible,
that it's technically a sequel to the 1931 monster movie starring Bela Lugosi.
In the first five minutes of Renfeld, a backstory-revealing scene establishes all
of this in a playful, meta manner. The movie takes a sequence from the original Dracula
and digitally adds the faces of Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage onto the actor's bodies. In
this sequence from the 1931 film, Renfield meets Dracula for the first time at a castle. However,
the film twists the scene by having Hoult deliver Renfield's lines. Then there's Cage,
who as Dracula, literally takes the words right out of Lugosi's mouth.
"I am dracula."
Renfield production designer Alec Hammond alluded to the
scene while speaking to JoBlo. He told the outlet:
"We're actually using some direct references to the original Universal horror movie. We
definitely use some of those frames. So, even if you'd never seen the 1931
Dracula movie. If you've never seen Bela Lugosi, you will [understand]."
These days, one of the easiest punchlines is ska — a horn-driven style of music that
originated in Jamaica. In Renfield, an entire running gag is devoted to poking fun of ska
music and its fans. One way the film does this is through a costuming detail that's easy to miss.
Early on in the movie, there is a scene where a woman who's attending a support group describes
her abusive, drug dealing boyfriend. Despite all the terrible things he's done, however,
the woman claims that the worst thing about him is the fact that he's a ska fan. The very next scene
shows a group of three guys in a warehouse that's filled with cocaine. One of the guys is wearing
a shirt that says "NYC Ska." By connecting the dots, viewers can draw the conclusion that the
tee-shirt wearing guy is probably the woman's boyfriend. So, since Renfield is looking for
victims who deserve to have their blood sucked, he naturally goes after the ska-loving knuckleheads.
Awkwafina's character in Renfield is named Rebecca Quincy. Quincy is a police officer
with a big heart and a dark past, so she shares a common bond with Renfield — particularly in
their mission to take on the Lobo crime family. Ultimately, Quincy's friendship
with Renfield helps him see the error of his ways in his dealings with Dracula.
"I work for dracula."
"Count Dracula?"
However, a little Easter egg that only the most hardcore Dracula fans might get,
is that the name Quincy is actually used in Bram Stoker's original 1897 novel. In the book,
there is a character named Quincey Morris. The names aren't the only similarity,
however, as these two characters serve similar narrative functions in their respective tales.
In Bram Stoker's Dracula, Quincey Morris helps Jonathan Harker defeat the vampire lord,
and he's also a character who went on to appear in multiple adaptations of the tale. Renfield's
Rebecca Quincy is a new twist on the same character, though she still helps to defeat
Renfield's toxic boss, just as the character did in earlier versions of the story. So, in
more ways than just her name, the Rebecca Quincy character is clearly part of a Dracula lineage.
Since the state of Louisiana has embraced significant tax incentives for production
companies, New Orleans has become a popular destination for filmmakers in recent decades.
Some of the films that have been shot in the city include Bad Moms, American Ultra,
12 Years a Slave, both 21 Jump Street films,
The Skeleton Key and Cage's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Additionally,
TV shows like True Detective and Treme have also shot entire seasons in The Big Easy.
For Renfield, however, capturing the vibe of the city was just as
important as the tax deductions. By using iconic New Orleans locations
like Mulate's restaurant and Charity hospital for major setpieces, Renfield is infused with
a spirit of New Orleans. At the film's premiere, Nicolas Cage told Nola.com:
"This is a city that does have an X factor. You don't know how to define it, it's just in the air,
it's in the feelings, it's in the mood. You can have a charming time and then
in a split-second you could really be a little bit unnerved, and you don't know exactly why."
When Renfield first brings the emaciated Dracula to New Orleans, he finds an abandoned building
in which to take shelter and build a new lair. Later in the movie, it's revealed that Renfield
and Dracula are actually staying at the abandoned old Charity Hospital. In real life, the hospital
exists and is very much deserted. You can find the eerie hospital in downtown New Orleans where it
sticks out like a sore thumb. But aside from just being creepy looking, Charity Hospital also has a
dark, potentially haunted history, thus making it the perfect locale for vampires to hole up.
The Charity Hospital in New Orleans has been abandoned since it suffered severe damage
from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Years back, a photo of lights shining from the windows of the
hospital went viral. This had some locals and online theorists convinced there were spirits
present. While no one can be certain whether ghosts exist in the building, this mystery at
least had a rational solution. An investigation led police to discover that the source was a pile
of 2x4's wrapped in lights. However, no further explanations were given. The potential of the
supernatural remains very much on the table, however, for those who choose to believe it.
While Renfield gets most of the nitty gritty of its setting right,
there is one New Orleans detail that the movie does not portray with accuracy. This detail
concerns the police officers in New Orleans, who play a surprisingly large role in the film.
In addition to centering its B-plot around Rebecca Quincy, the main thrust of Renfield's
narrative involves a brewing conflict between the cops and the Lobo crime family. In the film,
the police wear badges and uniforms that all say the same thing — P.D.N.O. This abbreviation,
which is apparently short for Police Department of New Orleans, can even be found on the police
cars. In reality, however, this is not what the New Orleans police department is called.
The N.O.P.D. is the official name for the New Orleans Police Department. Perhaps the city of
New Orleans didn't want to see the bulk of its police force portrayed as incompetent. Or maybe
it had something to do with the gruesome end so many of the cops meet in the film. Regardless,
this change is only really noticeable to anyone who has spent significant time in New Orleans.
The filmmakers behind Renfield didn't just draw upon Bram Stoker and his novel's
direct adaptations when coming up with its vampire-themed touchstones. The notion that
vampires must be invited in order to enter a home has become a familiar vampire cliche,
for instance. However, Renfield subverts this in a clever way.
"Now, let's eat!"
In the world of the film, vampires — even ones as powerful as lord Dracula — still
need to be invited in to enter a building. This is emphasized when the support group
organizer Mark cheerfully invites the dark lord into a meeting near the end of the film.
"Okay, obviously we're dealing with a little more than just narcissism here."
But in a small gag before this moment, Renfield turns the trope on its head. After Renfield goes
off on his own, Dracula comes looking for him. When he gets to Renfield's apartment, Dracula is
allowed to come in and wait for Renfield to get home. This is all due to the fact that Renfield
has a welcome mat outside that literally invites people in. The movie uses this as a clever ploy to
get Dracula into Renfield's apartment. Needless to say, it's also a pretty funny moment.
As Renfield spends more time with Rebecca and the members of his support group,
he begins to create a life and identity outside of his relationship with Dracula.
"I need to get out of a toxic relationship."
Taking steps to become his own person, Renfield gets his own apartment, which
he decorates with a slew of motivational posters. While many of these posters are fairly generic,
often with large, printed words and phrases of inspiration next to pictures of majestic animals,
one in particular stands out. However, this poster also receives very little attention.
Blink and you might miss how, on a different wall in Renfield's colorful apartment,
there is a lone motivational poster that reads: "I am enough. I have enough." This
phrase is repeated throughout the movie, and is first passed to Renfield in his
support group for people with dependent relationships. It can be assumed, perhaps,
that this is where he picked up the poster in the first place. This affirmation
ultimately helps Renfield move beyond his codependent relationship with Dracula.
"The co-dependency is toxic, but there's a level of love there."
When he finally gets the upper hand,
he repeats the phrase while beating his master to a bloody pulp.
In the world of Renfield, people are depicted as something akin to walking sacks of blood, waiting
to be popped like a pimple. Some viewers will love the violence the film offers, others will likely
roll their eyes at the excess. But at the very end of the movie, viewers are perhaps more likely to
at least understand the inspiration behind the film's outrageous takes on violence and gore.
When Teddy Lobo is killed by Renfield, there is a moment that echoes the "Mortal
Kombat" games. The scene goes into full X-ray mode inside Teddy's body,
allowing viewers to see his bones breaking. This is reminiscent of the X-Ray moves in
modern "Mortal Kombat" games. In fact, this near-direct homage to the fighting franchise
is a moment that might make some viewers consider that Renfield has done a better
job of capturing the "Mortal Kombat" aesthetic than any of the franchise's "official" movies.
Nicolas Cage's interpretation of Dracula is one for the history books — and in some ways,
a perfect book-end to his 1988 freak-out classic Vampire's Kiss. But for all its zaniness and camp,
there is another layer of the character that the
actor captures as well. The charm and allure that Dracula has over women is
not lost on Cage. Seduction has always been a part of vampire stories and the way Cage
incorporates Dracula's sex appeal is one of the most book-accurate elements of Renfield.
"Vampire movies invite the realm of fantasy or magic."
Near the end of the film, Dracula comes face-to-face with the head of the Lobo
mob family, Bellafrancesca Lobo. In their first confrontation, Bellafrancesca is intoxicated by
Dracula's seductive nature. Dracula uses these powers to his advantage, seducing
Bellafrancesca and winning her affections just long enough to let him take over the Lobo clan.
In the film's final shot, Renfield once again pays direct homage to 1931's Dracula. Before
the credits begin, there is one final stinger that Dracula fans will definitely recognize.
After the action has wrapped up, the movie cuts to a title card. The title
Renfield appears in the same font used in the original film. The title logo also pays homage
to the colorized posters, featuring a yellow typeface with red highlights.
This striking image is an effective way to bring the tongue-and-cheek love letter to Dracula,
that is Renfield, to a close. The end credits continue this throwback in a
stylish manner that keeps Renfield humble by acknowledging the legacy from which it was born.