Interview with the Vampire

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Interview with the Vampire

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Interview with the Vampire

Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Stephen Rea, Christian Slater

Anne Rice's best-selling romantic horror tale about the origins of a centuries-old vampire inspired this popular, atmospheric chiller. One of director Neil Jordan's major Hollywood productions, the fi... read more read more...lm stays close to its source material, retaining the frame of a young reporter (Christian Slater) interviewing a man who claims to be a 200-year-old vampire. The man, Louis (Brad Pitt), shares his story, beginning in 18th-century New Orleans with his first encounters with the charismatic and decadent vampire Lestat (Tom Cruise). Lestat converts Louis to blood-sucking and immortality, but Louis fails to adopt Lestat's cavalier attitude, instead tormenting himself with guilt over his new nature. The two vampires remain deeply, if reluctantly, connected over the years, while becoming intimately involved with others of their kind, including Claudia (Kirsten Dunst), a mature immortal in a young child's body. Fans of the novel raised numerous objections, particularly after Rice initially spoke out against the casting of Cruise as Lestat; further casting difficulties followed the death of River Phoenix, whose role as the interviewer was assumed by Christian Slater. Rice later recanted her objections, and the combination of thrills and gothic romance proved popular with audiences. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Id: 10904293

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Interview with the Vampire Recent Reviews
  • garyX
    April 20, 2012
    garyX
    A vampire from born in New Orleans in the 18th century tells the tale of his life to an incredulous reporter. Anne Rice's own adaptation of her novel is quite literary which tempers the melodrama to give it quite a theatrical feel, added to by a good supporting cast; Tom Cruise a... read morectually gives one of his more characterful performances and is clearly enjoying himself as the rakish Lestat. It's obviously mainly about the eye candy and gothic romanticism for the benefit of the ladies, but there is also some great period detail and interesting themes running through it; particularly the eternal child and links between voyeurism and violence. A VERY young Kirsten Dunst gives a mature performance as Louie's unwilling child/love although I felt Banderas' character was underused. It's brooding, atmospheric and has a nice line in black but playful humour and is far superior to the vast majority of it's many, many copycats.
  • phubbs1
    October 10, 2011
    phubbs1
    This is a tricky one, the whole vampire life story is amazing, charting history through the eyes of a vampire. The design is extremely well created and has a classic lavish feel about it all the way through, seeing vampires across different countries and periods is also very cool... read more.
    There maybe too many big names in it for my liking, a little too much 'Hollywood gloss' perhaps, should of had some more unknowns or classic actors really. Gorgeous to watch though and with a haunting soundtrack its quite beautiful, a work of art in places, a little flawed in others, the film isn't suppose to be very faithful to the original source but I can't compare that.

    A curious mix of an elegant classic gothic period romance with an almost rock n roll glitzy twist to it, but I can't deny it does work very well.
  • fb100000257973100
    August 20, 2011
    fb100000257973100
    Vampires have always been something of a guilty pleasure of mine sense I can remember. What donâ(TM)t you like about them? They take centuries old myths revolving the Catholic faith and makes them pure horror, they have immortal life, and they are the true lords of night. But, ov... read moreertime, the vampire image has been destroyed, distraught, and bastardize so much that vampires turned from complete creatures of terror into humanâ(TM)s ultimate wet dreams by wanting to make the vampires sexually appealing. I am sorry, but that is not how I want my vampires to be. But, there are some exceptions to this. One of which is the novel by Anne Rice known as: Interview With The Vampire. Being her first novel, it is something of a complete shock of pure and wonderous imagination as we get a first hand glimpse into the life of a vampire through the eyes of Louis (portrayed in the film by Brad Pitt) and his 200 year life of horror as he sees, feels, and experiences idea that we can only imagine. The novel was a giant success that created, what I call, the third wave of vampire fiction, basically being the new Dracula in terms of how successful and how much it is embedded into pop culture. My first experience with this film was when I was first introduced to vampires when I was younger. Due to a sudden rush of vampire love across the world, vampires were brought back to life in the minds of people and became the subject of much love and commercial success as people tried to catch on to the world of vampires. I was and still am one of those people that feel in love with vampires. But what made me become the fan that I am on these creatures was this one movie. While watching this film, I felt something of a new era of my life opening up and an entire new world being explored. Just, the visual aspects of this film are brought to life in such a wonderous way that you become entranced in the pure beauty of this tale. And entranced I was as this became one of the finest films on the subjects of real vampires that I have ever seen. My heart was captivated by this film and still when I watch it or listen to the score, I feel the world of new wonder open up. I love this film, but while I love it, there are a few aspects that I will discuss that I do not particularly care for. But more on that later. Letâ(TM)s get down to the details. The first will have to be the direction of Neil Jordan. Being well known for his work on â~The Crying Gameâ(TM), I did not know what to expect with this film. But, to my surprise, Jordan treats the original source material with pure respect and honesty as he makes two centuriesâ(TM) worth of history and crams it all into a two hour film. The only complaint I have is that the pacing he has with this film is rather slow at times and that is something of a bummer to me. I like films that keep a steady pace and makes you be interested. This film has the interesting part right. But the pace, not so much. Like all films, the second time around it is faster, but I would of liked it if it was more faster and more speedy. Next the acting. Okay, if you are a mega fan of actors/ actresses that were huge and popular in the 1990â(TM)s, then this is your film all the way. So, I might as well get down to the five main actors. First off is Brad Pitt. Now, I am not that much of a Brad Pitt fan. Yeah, later on down the road he gave a monumental performance in Quentin Tarantinoâ(TM)s INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, but other then that, I never really cared for him. But with this one film, I am ready to say that I love him as an actor. The character of Louis is tragic in the sense that he has had an entire world of misfortune happen to him and he tries to live on, but he does so in a way that is unimaginable towards anyone. It is with his acting, how he is able to get across the feel of experiencing things like drinking blood for the first time, the creation of a child vampire, that makes this movie work. Next for Tom Cruise. Now, I adore Tom Cruiseâ(TM)s acting from his performance in Ridley Scottâ(TM)s LEGEND to his performance in Stanley Kubrickâ(TM)s EYES WIDE SHUT. He is a fine actor and, unlike Anne Rice when she first heard, I was open to him being in this role. When he portrayed the vampire Lestat, he literally stole the entire film. This movie is meant to be about Louis, but Lestat just makes everything about him and you start to care about this anti-hero as he lives out his life. With Cruiseâ(TM)s acting, he gives a wonderful performance and one that is memorable. Very much well done. The next person to mention was a then very much unknown Kristen Dunst as the vampire child Claudia. Now, let me explain something about this character. She is an eternal child, but has the aging mind of a woman. She is a complex, emotionally angered character that, at first, never understand what she is due to how young she was when she first became a vampire. Once she finds out, she becomes one of the most interesting and most furious of characters that I have seen in a vampire film that is a vampire. Dunst was at a very young age to play this young vampire, and she does so with wonderous ability. This film is a testimony to the fact that she can act. Next on the list is Antonio Banderas who portrays Armand: The Oldest Vampire In The World. While appearing in the second half of the film, Banderas does give a performance that I wish could have been expanded more. Banderas is a fine actor, and it is something of a shame that he is not put into more use in this film. But for the parts he is in for, he is great. Lastly, the only other actor is the interviewer: Christian Slater. Slater, I think, had the most difficult role in this entire film not because of who the character is (appears for only twenty minutes spread through out the film), but because of who was suppose to play his character. Originally, teen icon River Phoenix was slated to portray the interviewer, but due to his untimely death, Slater was brought in. For the most part, he does his job how it needed to be done, but I would of liked it if he was able to show off more of his acting abilities. Now we head for the script. One thing that fans of novels hate is when their favorite novels are adapted into film due to how much is changed. While this filmâ(TM)s script does differ from her novel, Anne Rice does write the script to her novel in a rather interesting way. I do like how she changed some of the key parts in the story to fit the film, but there are some certain details I wished she would of kept in. Ms. Rice is a fabulous writer, and this being her only screen play, she does show a lot of talent. But, one has to wonder what would of happened if someone else was to have adapted the screen play? Would it still keep Riceâ(TM)s tone or would it have been shattered? Finally the score. I love film scores to no end and this film can be credited as to being one of the films that started my love for filmâ(TM)s music. From the opening choir piece that is haunting yet beautiful to a wonderful cover of the Rolling Stoneâ(TM)s song Sympathy For The Devil (covered by a then good Guns N Roses), this score just creates the dark atmosphere and the feeling of loneliness that the film tries to have and it works. But the one piece that needs to be mentioned is the opening piece Libera Me. There is a way to tell if a film will be good and that has to be how great the first piece of music is at setting the tone. Hearing the dark, a tad bit depressing piano and the voices of children that are featured in that piece of music, it just creates a world unlike any other. Now, the score was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, but lost out to The Lion King that year. Pity. For the visuals in this film, it is simply outstanding. Even more when the film is set in Paris and we see the underground vampire cults that are there. What makes this so note worthy is just how magnificent it looks. The time spent on those sets to create them must have taken back breaking amounts of work, and for the effect it has, I say it was worth it. That is the thing about this film: it is all about effect and story. Effect of how we feel about the characters. Effect about the music. Effect about the sets. The effect level on this film is high and it is then easy to understand why this film is considered great. The plot, also, is something of a wonder. Just the imagination it took to create this world is just magnificent and still is today when we are bombarded with countless knock off vampires that are just disgraceful. Overall, this is probably one of the last great vampire films ever made and an ultimate introduction into the wonderful world of vampires that can only be created by Anne Rice.
  • ajv2688
    May 24, 2011
    ajv2688
    The best new vampire movie, based on the popular novel by Anne Rice. This movie has an all star cast, a big budget, and special effects, but it doesn't overdo it all. The story is beautiful and brilliant, and all vampire fans should see this movie.
  • romy861
    April 2, 2011
    romy861
    Somehow I have avoided seeing this one until now. I knew very little about it, except it was based on an Anne Rice book (and I have long ago tried to read a few of her books and really not gotten into them, so I can understand how I was not especially excited to see this movie -... read more especially considering it stars two of my least favourite and over-rated male stars - Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt).
    Anyhow, I find that I have been leant this movie by someone who insists I will love it, based on the fact I don't mind Twilight (hmmmm)... so I sat down to watch it finally.
    What can I say - first 40 minutes or so had me bored crapless. Tom Cruise as vile as ever, Brad Pitt not too excruciating, but still far from a favourite - and then the poodle killings happen. Not a way to get me to warm to a movie!
    Luckily (or unluckily, since it meant I ended up watching this movie in it's entirety instead of switching off as I might have), things pick up a little with the appearance of Kirsten Dunst.
    I had, over the years, heard much about this kiss with Brad Pitt, so I was surprised to see it was really just a fairly chaste peck - she is, after all, clearly a child here.
    Sadly, once Kirsten is no longer in the movie, (I won't reveal what happens so as not to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen this), it falls back down to boring again. Christian Slater is a small saving grace for it, but he is not in it frequently enough to make it worthwhile.
    I think it is a movie a lot of people will love as it is very dark, but for me a movie I would only watch once.
  • LWOODS04
    March 16, 2011
    LWOODS04
    This is one of the best vampire movies ever made. I think this is the only movie I have ever enjoyed Tom Cruises acting in. Not a fan, but he really did this movie justice. This movie had a large cast of really great actors and thats why it turned out so great and will be a class... read moreic forever. I really hope no one ever tries to redo this film. Leave what is already great alone!!

    Kirsten Dunst was terriffic in this movie. Showed such maturity in this role at such a young age. Just a great movie that people should watch.
  • DreamExtractor
    March 2, 2011
    DreamExtractor
    Original and fun, but a bit cliche and creepy
  • adammahler1
    February 7, 2011
    adammahler1
    Do the vampires in this movie actually have sex with other vampires, or even occasionally with humans? Because they only seem to get-off breathing over each other's faces.

    There's a lot of gayish, florid hokiness at times, when they're dashing around what looks like a cheap set... read more with some expensive things on it. The murky soft-focus medium shots in those scenes didn't make the atmosphere look less cheap.

    I liked how the movie treated the various possibilities of vampire death and alluded to vampire suicidal depression. To be eternally or not to be eternally, that was the question. Should've asked it more.
  • cosmo313
    August 14, 2010
    cosmo313
    It's been a while since I saw this (or read the book), but I kind of feel that this is pretty much on par with the source material. There are some differences, but it definitely helps that Anne Rice penned both this and the book.

    As far as a vampire movie goes, I really like ... read morethis onebecause the lore and the world are established quite well, and things are handled in a great way. This is an eerie, atmospheric gothic chiller that is great to look at, and makes nods to the past, but still has enough sex appeal and violence to bring it u to speed with conteporary cinema.

    Tom Cruise may be a joke now, but he gives an okay performance here (even though it's a little hammy). Brad Pitt is pretty good as the tortured Louis, but for me, I really like Kirsten Dunst as the chilling yet alluring Claudia. Too bad very few (if any) of her later performances got to the level of the one she gives here.

    Besides having a good story, great writing, strong direction, and decent perforamcnes, the real stars here are the set design, art direction, and the costumes. This is a period piece costume drama that rocks, and I highly recommend it.
  • MeetMeinMontauk
    June 21, 2010
    MeetMeinMontauk
    Two things this movie taught me:
    A) Tom Cruise cannot pull off long hair.
    B) Brad Pitt should not have long hair.
    Other than that, it was very pretty and only kinda gorey. I also loved Kirsten Dunst's performance. Awesome spoiled brat. Antonio Banderas was a tad creepy looking th... read moreat pale, it's just not natural on him. Also, I've never read the books, but the plot followed well and I know it's a part of a series, so good twist ending there. And I am a sucker for dark films and pretty dresses, so there's a big plus.
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