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Interview of the Vampire stands at the height of the vampire genre. Though the film is far from perfect and more resembles a homosexual, emo opus than your typical vampire flick, the storytelling and special effects far outstrip the majority of vampire films within the genre, even when compared to newer vampire flicks like the abysmal 30 Days of Night and the even more atrocious I Am Legend. The film caters specifically to the romantic nature of the vampire and portrays them as lonely victims wrapped in the bleak years of their never-ending existence.

The film begins in present times as a newspaper reporter interviews a man that claims to be a vampire. This vampire begins to recount the tale of his life from the time he was turned into a vampire up until the present. The film unfolds as Louis, an accentless dude (because Pitt can’t act?) from New Orleans, who is grieving for his dead wife and child, stumbles across the path of a vampire named Lestat. They form a homosexual bond, sans benefits, and Louis is turned into a vampire. From the day he is born again, Louis attempts to find peace and happiness, but nothing, not even the creation of a little girl vampire can assuage his thirst for knowledge and true companionship. Events take Louis from New Orleans to Paris, where he stumbles across a coven of vampires who masquerade as theater actors portraying vampires, and Louis’ life becomes even more complicated and homosexual, as he meets a pretty vampire named Armand. They share some smoldering glances and barely keep from making out with each other.

The film is adequately directed by Neil Jordan and there are some truly memorable scenes in the film. Sure the film plays out like part period piece, part homosexual soap opera, but when those few moments of inspired genius pop up it more than makes up for the middle school popularity contest that the story feels like. I can’t help but wonder how much more interesting the film would be if the characters didn’t all behave like drama queens, casting sighs in every direction as they wallow in their own self pity. Seriously, if I was a vampire, I would be out having fun, not crying on some fluffy couch in my distinctly feminine apartment while I tried to keep my ponytail from flopping in the wrong direction.

The acting in the film is ok. There are a couple of standouts and a few forgettable performances mixed here and there. Brad Pitt is particularly bad as Louis, the vampire through whose perspective the story is told. Pitt is conmpletely devoid of personality in the film and he comes across as a motivationless loser throughout much of the film. It’s even harder to care about Louis when he is put up against the vampire Lestat, unforgettably portrayed by Tom Cruise in the only role that he ever did that was even remotely believable. Cruise’s foppish delight at pillaging the poor Creole women and young boys of New Orleans is unforgettable and definitely the most interesting character and performance within the film. Stephen Rea also excels, in a part that is a little too small for my taste, as the quirky and mean spirited Santiago. Antonio Banderas and Kirsten “My head has it’s own gravitational field” Dunst round out the cast with largely uninspiring performances… even though Banderas does play gay a little too well.

The special effects, while a little sparse for my taste are magnificently executed. Augmented by top notch set design, the special effects are a mix of practical and early stage CGI, that despite being more than 14 years old, still outstrips most special effects laden movies to this day. There are a couple of cool moments involving practical makeup effects, and the decrepit version of Lestat looks fantastic, as does Louis’ scythe rampage near the end of the film. It’s too bad there isn’t more of this stuff as it looks absolutely fantastic.

Interview with the Vampire doesn’t feel nearly as fresh as it did when it first came out, but for first time viewing it is a must see. Its self pitying aesthetic is a little played out, and even though it had nothing to do with emo bullshit, it fits right into that little quirk of generic American pop culture. What the film truly lacks is balls, and this lack of testicular fortitude prevents the movie from being anything greater than what it is.

Final Synopsis: Interview with the Vampire was hot shit when it first came out, but the film is slightly above average. It’s definitely worth watching if you haven’t seen it… or if you like to watch big name actors create homosexual tension on screen. Give it a rent… unless you’ve seen it already… then there’s no reason to watch the movie again.

Points Lost: -1 for Brad Pitt’s performance, -1 for being a little too wimpy, -1 for having the focus of the film be the uninspiring and inferior character of Louis

Lesson Learned: Don’t be a vampire… they’ll make you gay… unless you want to be gay.

Burning Question: How could they skip The Vampire Lestat in favor of The Queen of the Damned? Who knows what could have been if they had shelled out the money to get Cruise to play the role of Lestat again?

Interview with the Vampire
7/10

Tags: 1994, antonio banderas, brad pitt, christian slater, gay vampires, horror, horror movie, kirsten dunst, latest movie reviews, Neil Jordan, recent, stephen rea, Thandie Newton, Tom Cruise, vampire, vampire movie, vampires