CHRIS MCKAY adopted a simple mantra when it came to directing the upcoming action-horror-comedy Renfield: “Make a fucked-up Dracula movie.”
At first, that colourful mission statement might sound like a departure for McKay. He had previously helmed episodes of Robot Chicken and the animated The Lego Batman Movie before transitioning to the time-travelling alien invasion blockbuster The Tomorrow War. But actually the king of the vampires and his minion were right up McKay’s street.
“I grew up watching John Carpenter movies,” McKay tells SFX. “I’m a huge David Cronenberg fan. Tobe Hooper… Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Poltergeist. Jaws was a big movie for me. To this day, I gravitate towards horror. The perennial Christmas present was a Stephen King book – I grew up reading a lot of King.
“There was a neighbour kid down the block and his parents had a VCR. His parents were. I got to see . I got to see all this stuff that was hard to find or not in the theatre.
