Movie #108 - Interview with the Vampire

"Drink From Me And Live Forever."

1994 was a funny time in Hollywood. This was a time when movie goers were obsessed with vampires and how the heartthrobs of the day were portraying them... fast forward to now and we have a similar obsession with Twilight. I must refrain from commenting on the reinvention, as I have yet to see the movie myself as it has been placed on the banned movie list by my wife.

What's interesting from this observation is that for the last 20 years, television and movie fans have enjoyed following the lives of vampires. What is the obsession that we have with them? Is it cool to be a vampire? Is it cool to drink blood? Or is it cool to wear feminine clothing and grow your hair long? Whatever the reasons, vampires are usually portrayed with various homosexual undertones - which was the case with this film.

Not only was the director the infamous director of The Crying Game (Neil Jordan), but the Anne Rice inspired character of Lestat de Lioncort had a number of homosexual tendencies. This film portrays vampires a little different than Bram Stoker's Dracula starring Gary Oldman as that movie follows the romance between Oldman and Wynona Ryder. Interview with the Vampire is a story told through the eyes of Brad Pitt's character - at the high point of the rise of his career in which he was the main focal point of the ladies in the 90's.

In terms of acting and cast selection, Jordan put a strong cast together composed of Pitt and Cruise, to go along with Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater, and younger versions of Thandie Newton and Kirsten Dunst. In general, the overall performances of each actor / actress were poor by comparison by the performance given by Dunst as the character of Claudia. She was the creepiest vampire portrayed in the film and somewhat overshadowed both Cruise and Pitt combined.

In the end, this movie ranks higher than the B-rated movies of the vampire era owned by Christopher Lee and Bela Lugosi, however, this film is really for the fans of the Anne Rice novels as it brings her main character of Lestat to life. I have not read any of the books, so unfortunately, I cannot comment on the relative success of bringing the character to the big screen, however, I wouldn't be surprised if many were disappointed in both the casting of Cruise and his overall performance in the film.