Telling the story of Dracula’s assistant Renfield, the horror-comedy focuses on a rebirth of the often maligned and disliked bug-eater. With a witty script, plenty of gloriously violent action, and strong performances, the likes of Nicolas Cage, Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina, and Ben Schwartz,Renfieldhas garnered a fan base.
To celebrate the Chris McKay film, with a script from Ryan Ridley, Robert Kirkman, and Ava Tramer, we look at the best quotes inRenfield, ranking up to our favorite.
13"Isn’t that the one that is 99% horns?"
Ah, Ska, you either love it or hate it. Judging by the constant pokeat the musical genre, the writers behindRenfielddon’t think too highly of the big-brass punk sound. This is first instanced in a group therapy session that Renfield attends to find future victims, and one of the speakers mentions the worst part about her abusive partner is that he loves Ska.
As various members air their grievances about the genre, the best sting comes from one lady who confusingly asks, “Isn’t that the one that is 99% horns?”
12"Shut the f*** up, Kyle."
Officer Rebecca Quincey respects her fellow police officers and never swears at them. Except for Kyle, f*** that guy. Kyle is a random police officer who is poked fun at throughout the film, his role is minimal, but his words are always met with, “Shut the f*** up, Kyle.”
The best instance of this comes when Renfield brings Rebecca flowers, and Kyle butts in, asking if he is her boyfriend. It issimple and crass humor, but Awkwafina nails her hatred of Kyle in these moments to great comedic effect.
11"Wait… What did you say about a hitman sent to kill you?
Renfieldexcels when being at the most over-the-top and silly, and one brief character introduced, “Apache Joe,” certainly fits the bill of cartoonish exaggeration. When Renfield goes to claim one of his victims, they first think he is a hitman.
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As he is about to take down a group of criminals to feed his master, he turns to his victim and says, “Wait… what did you say about a hitman sent to kill you?” This cuts to the above-pictured behemoth of a man staring back at Renfield.
10"That’s so weird. Why would you phrase it like that?"
Renfield doesn’t just use therapy sessions to help find potential food for his master, but he also comes to form an odd respect for the advice they give. When Renfield decides to speak out about his abuse, he is met with enthusiasm in his willingness to share. The energy of the group and dialogue here is generally entertaining.
Still, the best line comes from when the head counselor asks, “What would happen if you stopped focusing on his needs,” to which Renfield replies, “He won’t grow to full power!” This is met with praise, but then a brief moment of realization in the enthusiasm where the counselor lands the awkwardly enthusiastic line of, “That’s so weird. Why would you phrase it like that?”
9"I got a prescription for this s***!"
Ben Swartz’s Tedward Lobo character has a lot of great moments and one-liners throughout the film. One of the first introductions to his kind of cowardly pseudo-bravado he puts in is one fleeing from the cops with an armful of cocaine, yelling, “I got a prescription for this s***!”
This line is made all the better as Tedward lobs cocaine at the cops before getting a baton thrown at the back of his head by Officer Rebecca Quincey.
8"Master, are you okay?"
After fighting off agroup of vampire hunters, Renfield runs to his master, who just killed a man while on fire. As the smoke clears, Renfield asks Dracula “Master, are you okay?” before cutting to a silly burnt-to-crisp meat skeleton that replies with a straightforward, “No.”
The successful delivery of this line comes from the reveal of the comically ghastly image of Dracula which makes it obvious he is not, in fact, okay.
7"Let’s eat."
Announcing the chaos to come, Cage’s call out of “Let’s eat” is imbued with all the campy charm the actor has proven to be able to tap into. This line also holds a lot of weight as it is a precursor to Dracula taking out all of Renfield’s group therapy friends in front of him, signaling a turning point in the servants' commitment to leave his master.
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6"A god, Renfield. An immortal, insatiable, all-powerful being."
Dracula has a bit of an ego! Making the decision that his next goal in life will be world domination, Dracula lays out his plan for Renfield, including tooting his own horn and describing himself as, “A god Renfield. An Immortal, insatiable, all-powerful being.”
What makes this line stand out beyond outlining just how mad the ancient vampire has become, is thatCage throws a little bit of his personalityinto the line delivery here, letting out a little ‘whoo’ between the lines ‘insatiable’ and ‘all-powerful.’
5"Did I watch you cut a guy’s arms off with a decorative serving platter?"
Renfield’s first introduction to Rebecca is a bloody affair, as the two take out Lobo’s gang of thugs with extreme violence. Afterward, the two speak to each other for the first time, and after Renfield says how “awesome” Rebecca is for standing up to the gang, she finds something cool to say about Renfield with the line, “Did I watch you cut a guy’s arms off with a decorative serving platter?” When he replies yes, she states that the act of violence was, indeed, ‘awesome.’
4"It’s the Dracula. It’s the real f***ing Dracula!"
Something about the youthful excitement of Ben Shwartz’s Tedward Lobo exclaiming to the matriarch of the Lobo gang, “It’s the Dracula. It’s the real f***ing Dracula!” lands so well in delivery. Perhaps it is his constant need to appease his mother that this moment and line of dialogue comes across as a kid showing off his newfound treasure in findingthe world-famous Dracula. It is a humorous line that Shwartz leans into with full conviction.
