Character of the Week: Renfield

I have yet to read Bram Stoker's Dracula, but that is where this week's character of the week originates. He is a man driven mad by the vampire Dracula, who eats insects in order to try to obtain their life force. He does this because he is under the control of Count Dracula, who he believes will make him an immortal. He was famously portrayed by the fantastic Dwight Frye in the 1931 Dracula film, who in my opinion was the best thing about that whole movie.

To be honest, though, my favorite portrayal of Renfield was in the 1992 Dracula film where he was played by singer Tom Waits. He has a great look to him and the combination of that and his voice, and his overall performance just made for an excellent Renfield. I was watching this movie on TNT or AMC or something like that and for some reason they cut out all of the Renfield scenes. I was PISSED! Tom Waits, Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins and Sadie Frost are the only good things about that movie, so I don't understand why they would cut him out. If they should cut anyone out it should be Keanu Reeves. Anyways, Tom Waits did an excellent job playing the madman Renfield, and his scenes are some of the best in the whole movie.