Vampire Movies and Anne Rice

While flipping through the channels today, Spike was playing “Interview with the Vampire” while SyFy had “Queen of the Damned” on.  I would recommend the first movie, but not so much the second.

First disclaimer, I am a fan of Anne Rice.  I have read most of her books, from every genre – enjoying the emotion she puts into her stories.  Second disclaimer, I have an avid interest in the vampire genre: legends, books, movies, comics, etc. I find the stories fascinating: as a Slav, a history buff, and a sci-fi/fantasy fanatic.

So back to the movies.  Movies are never a faithful representation of a book, but Interview is one of the better one (duh, Rice had a hand in screenplay).  This is the story of Luis, a 200-year old vampire and former plantation owner.  He is elegant and thoughtful, not a brainless beast.  Brad Pitt does gives one his best early performances.   He tells this story to a young Daniel Mallory, played by Christian Slater.   Luis struggles with his metamorphosis – he cannot accept what he must do to survive.  He hates his life –actually before and after his turning.  His despair is born of tragedy - one many can understand.  Can it be of any surprise to hear how Anne Rice wrote this story – almost in a frenzy – right after losing her little daughter to leukemia?  But it is the strong character of Lestat which drives this story and that of the series.  To this day, I am not completely satisfied with Tom Cruise’s performance.  I do not believe he has the acting skills to pull off this character and is not the vibrant creature I found on the pages of the book.  However, the movie over all is interesting.  We meet the child vampire of Claudia (played by the very young Kirten Dunst) who is reminiscent of Rice’s own daughter Michele.  The characters becomes creepy as we realize the person inside is grown up but in the body of a child, doomed.  We also meet the interesting vampires of Santiago (Stephen Rea) and Armand (Antonio Banderas).  The coven is full of petty vampires - no better than the humans they look down upon - infighting, back stabbing, vindictive.  We circle the globe in 200 years and see the world change though Louis’ eyes.  It is an interesting tale.  So if you enjoy vampire tales, I would recommend “Interview with a Vampire” for a screening.

Queen of the Damned is a different story.  First it is a horrible adaptation – borrowing fragments from Rice’s two novels, the Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned.  It leaves so much out, and not just to fit within the time frame.  It screws with characters and their motivations.  It takes a fascinating tale and squeezes it into a bowl of crap.  About the only thing I liked in this movie was Stewart Townsend as Lestat.  He has the emotional range and charisma to play this complex and ever-changing character.  Unfortunately the gimmicky choice to have a pop-star – Aaliyah – play Akasha is sad, made more tragic by her death before the release.  A talented signer, she was way out of her league and showed no understanding of the character or the history.   Frankly, read the books, great story.