Interview With The Vampire

Interview With The Vampire, released in 1994, starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater, and child actress Kirsten Dunst, is a film adaptation of the Anne Rice novel of the same name. Interview With The Vampire is the first novel of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles series, later the third novel Queen Of The Damned was also given a film adaptation (which I will not be discussing any further, because I like Anne Rice with that the producers would have not gone through with making the film, it is an disgrace to its source material), though the rest of the novels were never given film adaptations. Anne Rice repurchased the film rights to all of Vampire Chronicles books and has stated that she wishes to have them made into a television series, starting with The Vampire Lestat, but I have heard nothing more on that. Anne Rice, early on was very critical of the casting choice of Tom Cruise as Lestat, and honestly when I first heard that he was cast for the roll, I was disappointed as well. I remember reading this book in 1994 before the film came out, and then later watching the film with my mom. However when actually watching the film, I agree with Anne Rice that he actually did a really good job in the roll. Brad Pitt also played well the brooding self-questioning Louis who Lestat turns into a vampire. The actress that actually stole the show by giving the best performance of the film though was 11 year old Kirsten Dunst. Her portrayal of Claudia was excellent, she played the emotion of the character so perfectly. Claudia was always one of my favourite characters, the girl who is doomed to be a child for all of eternity, who wants nothing more than to grow older, like a mortal woman. Claudia in many ways is one of the most complex characters in the story, and her character (from the novel) was also inspiration for the song The Dog by British punk/goth band The Damned. Even though I was skeptical of the casting of Tom Cruise, the film ended up being perfectly cast. One note, River Phoenix was originally cast as the interviewer, but he died just before shooting, and the role was then given to Christian Slater, who donated his entire salary to charitable causes that were important to River, and the film was also dedicated to River Phoenix. This film made a huge impact on my as a young teenager, it was one of the films that really sparked my interest in vampire films, and Anne Rice's vampires are the standard on which I measure vampires on. I would say that of all film "monsters", vampires are my favourite, whether it is the ghoul like vampire of Nosferatu, the sexy seductive Dracula as played by Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, or Gary Oldman, or the dramatic Barnabas Collins in Dark Shadows...vampires are the sexiest and most seductive of all of the horror monsters. The vampires in Interview With The Vampires, show the sexy seductiveness of vampires, but also the deep brooding introspection of one cursed to undead immortal life, and the guilt of having to feed on the blood of others. There is also the homoerotic relationship of Lestat and Louis, and then later Louis and Armand, this was a risky move in a film in 1994 when homophobia was rampant in films and in society. The fact that Anne Rice was writing about bi-sexual vampires in the 70s says a lot about her boldness as a writer. I love the fact that this was not altered in the film, though at one point it nearly was, and Louis' character was almost changed to a female, but thankfully it wasn't. The special effects in this film, were smooth and beautiful, and broke a lot of grounds on what could be done. The effects have actually stood the test of time, and still look beautiful and seamless. Visually this is a stunning film, the sets are beautiful and well done, the costumes are all beautifully done as well. Honestly there is little negative that I can say about this film, I wish it would have stuck a little closer to the original novel, but as a film it stands very strongly on its own, and is still as enjoyable to watch now as it was when it came out in 1994. This has always been one of my favourite films. The film also received mostly positive reviews, though Oprah actually walked out after only 5 minutes of a pre-release of the film, because of its darkness and goriness, which if anything actually to me sounds like a positive review. Would I recommend this film? Yes, absolutely, this film should definitely be on everyone's must see list. I might not suggest younger kids watching it, as it does have some pretty adult themes, including some violence and sexual themes, but a good parent can really show their kid anything, and have a conversation about it afterwards, so do what is right for you I suppose. Anyway, yes, this is an amazing film, as both a drama and as a horror film, and will most likely always stand as one of my favourite films.