Warning: Spoilers for Renfield to follow.
Let the critics scoff where they may, but Renfield is a film that brings the goods on its own terms. It’s no unfair gesture to point fingers at its questionable action scene presentation or the occasional heavy-handedness with its more thematic, emotional moments, but its sheer embracing of the horror comedy space – coupled with a pair of protagonists you can’t help but cheer for – should allow it to stick the landing for many a viewer.
And, spoiler alert in case you’ve never seen a movie before, the protagonist ends up victorious; that’s right, Robert Montague Renfield overcomes his demons and escapes the psychological clutches of Dracula by the film’s end.
However, did Renfield choose violence for his abuser, or did he simply walk away?
Does Dracula die at the end of Renfield?
Let’s just say that the unrelenting, spectacular display of blood and corpses more than foreshadows the fate of Dracula; indeed, the world’s most famous vampire lord does in fact meet his demise by the end of the film, and he certainly got what was coming to him.
After trapping Dracula in a holy protection circle made of cocaine, Rebecca and Renfield’s eyes fall on a series of grotesquely medieval weapons attached to the wall, all of which they end up using to slice, dice, mash, and mince Renfield’s abuser beyond recognition. As if that didn’t do the trick, the duo then proceeded to encase the bite-sized remains of Dracula into tiny, individual concrete blocks before dumping them all into a sewer.
All of this to say that, yes, Dracula does die at the end of Renfield, and his death is right next to the dictionary definition of “spectacular overkill.” Then again, considering the levels of jackassery he reached over the centuries, perhaps it was the exact amount of murder he deserved after all.
Renfield is currently playing in theaters.