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Interview with the Vampire - DTS Customer Reviews (61 - 63 of 79 Reviews)

Spellbinding Macabre
When this movie opened on the big screen, I did not go to see it because I thought it was going to be a "spoof" about vampires. However, when I saw the video, my assumption couldn't have been further from the truth. I found myself enthralled with the tormented Louis (Brad Pitt), the flamboyant Lestat (Tom Cruise), and the exquisite child Claudia (Kirsten Dunst). This is a very passionate, expressive, and vivid adaptation of Anne Rice's novel. Tom Cruise brings the character Lestat to life with all the bells and whistles (he went for it) and is one of his finest hours on the sliver screen. It seems the vampire Louis was written for Brad Pitt - need I say more. The child vampire, Claudia, was played brilliantly by Kirsten Dunst, and she looked the role all too perfectly. I found myself caught up in the macabre atmosphere and genre of New Orleans and the 18th Century. This movie takes the classic vampire as we know him, and shows a different side where human emotions, vulnerability and the need for companionship meet. Underlying it all is the "thirst" (no pun intended) for knowledge about the origins of the "dark gift", the fear of abandonment, and future survival. It takes the fears that we go through as humans and fuses them with these vampires. For those of you who like the mysterious and eerie, this is a must to see. I fell in love with it and have watched it many times over. I love Anne Rice's book, but adore the movie.

Almost excellent...
Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles are sensual and voluptuous books, full of heavy gothic prose and powerful images. The movie of her first novel, 'Interview With The Vampire' is none of the above, but still manages to be a decent enough film, although it lacks any resemblance to the mood of Rice's original writing.

The plot follows the adventures of fledgeling Vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt), as told to a reporter (Christian Slater), one night in New Orleans. He starts from the beginning of his undead life and brings us right up to the present day, and introduces us to a host of grim characters along the way, the most prolific of which is Lestat, played with horrible boyishness by the hopelessly miscast Tom Cruise.

The movie has many good points. Neil Jordan's style of direction suits the mood of the film very well, and in some places, excels (the Theatre Des Vampires sequence is particularly memorable). Also excellent is Pitt, in his role as Louis. He remains as faithful as he can to Rice's pedantic, melancholic Vampire as the oddly lacklustre script allows. The soundtrack is also deserving of a mention, as its lavishness complements the gothic mood of the film beautifully.

The majority of glowing reviews for 'Interview', however, don't take into account the original novel, and it's here that the film fails. The character of Lestat DeLioncourt is that of a tortured and malevolent boy-monster, and yet Tom Cruise plays it with such high-camp gusto that we wonder if Warner Bros. gave Anne Rice money to retract her Tom Sawyer comments when she saw the initial screen tests. In Cruise's hands, Lestat becomes something like a Leslie-Nielsen style vampire, all fangs and drama and no substance. Similarly, Kirsten Dunst, who has now matured into a good actress, gives an overstated and hammy performance as Claudia, who, in the novel, is wise beyond her years, an unnatural and immortal monstrosity who eventually brings about the destruction of both Lestat and herself. And Antonio Banderas should never have been given the role of the Ayrean 16-year old Armand. He still speaks with a heavy Latino accent and is clearly a hispanic man in whiteface. He's nothing to do with the character of Armand.

That said, 'Interview' is still a very good movie, though it fails to deliver the same punch and atmosphere as the original novel. It's a solid story, with many good points, but for anyone who's read the book, it's a shame that so much potential was cast aside in favour of Hollywood-style Overstatement.

The Best Movie, Horror or Otherwise, of All Time
After having absolutely no sleep, I saw IWTV at 6:30 in the morning, and put off going to bed just to finish watching this incomparable movie. It is the singular best movie of all time. In a nutshell, Louis de Pointe du Lac, the younger vampire, struggles with regret about his killings after being "made" by Lestat de Lioncourt. I had heard in advance that Tom Cruise played an excellent Lestat, but when he appeared on the screen, I was shocked. He was a chilling, amazing character, virtually unrecognizable with fangs and blond hair. Louis, played by Brad Pitt, was occasionally whiny and melancholy, but he certainly fit the part. Stealing the show, however, was an extremely talented and extremely frightening Kirsten Dunst (at 12) as Claudia, the child vampire whose mind and soul matures, but whose body remains that of a 12-year-old. Louis's only love, she keeps him with Lestat in the immortal family. Antonio Banderas, as Armand, was also amazing, although a far cry from the auburn-haired, eternally youthful character of the book. I was inspired to read the novel by Anne Rice after finishing the movie, (I cried for hours at its end, partially because it was over) and it too was great. If only Tom Cruise was Lestat in the feeble Queen of the Damned!

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