Now playing in theaters, Universal’s Renfield uses the original Universal Monsters classic Dracula (1931) as the jumping off point for a brand new adventure, dissecting the not-quite-healthy relationship between Dracula and his loyal servant, R.M. Renfield. But the original Dracula isn’t the only fanged horror classic that Renfield pays loving homage to.
An early scene in Renfield shows Nicolas Cage’s Dracula taking a vaporous form and entering the body of an elderly priest through the mouth, quite literally exploding the priest’s body apart. What you may not have noticed is that the ill-fated priest was played by the star of another classic vampire movie. Yes, that’s William Ragsdale, star of 1985’s Fright Night!
Ragsdale of course played Charley Brewster in Tom Holland’s original Fright Night, who survives a nightmarish encounter with the vampire Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon). Ragsdale’s “Older Priest” (his official credit on the film) isn’t so lucky in Renfield, coming across the most iconic blood-sucker of them all and gruesomely losing his battle with pure evil.
What else has William Ragsdale been up to in recent years? He recently played the uncredited role of Eric’s Father in M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin, with other recent roles including the TV shows “Equalizer,” “The Blacklist,” “Black-ish,” and “Blue Bloods.” He also appeared in 2019’s mystery-thriller film The Elevator Game, directed by Anthony de Lioncourt.
Renfield is now playing in theaters nationwide.
“In this modern monster tale of Dracula’s loyal servant, Nicholas Hoult stars as Renfield, the tortured aide to history’s most narcissistic boss, Dracula (Oscar® winner Nicolas Cage). Renfield is forced to procure his master’s prey and do his every bidding, no matter how debased. But now, after centuries of servitude, Renfield is ready to see if there’s a life outside the shadow of The Prince of Darkness. If only he can figure out how to end his codependency.”
Universal’s Renfield is based on an original pitch from “The Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman. Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War, LEGO Batman Movie) directed the movie.
William Ragsdale in ‘Renfield’
The post ‘Renfield’ – Did You Spot ‘Fright Night’ Star William Ragsdale in Universal’s Horror-Comedy? appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.