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INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
A review by Professor Neon
November 8, 1994
Starring: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Stephen Rea,
Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater
Directed by: Neil Jordan
Produced by: Stephen Woolley, David Geffen
Screenplay by: Anne Rice (based on her novel)
Geffen (1994); Distributed by Warner Bros.
MPAA Rated: R
Professor Neon's rating (0-10, 5=average, 10=best): 8.5
Running time: 120 minutes
Opens: November 11, 1994
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The "buzz" of controversy preceding the arrival of "Interview With The
Vampire" has been extraordinary, threatening at times to completely
overshadow the film itself. First we hear that Anne Rice, author of the
book and the screenplay, was incensed at the casting of Tom Cruise
in the lead role, then later we're told that she's very pleased with the
results. Rumors circulate that Cruise had wanted certain somewhat
"homoerotic" scenes removed, but those rumors are denied. And throughout,
the expectations have been rising to a level that any film would have a
difficult time meeting.
So I was fully prepared to be disappointed. But that's not what happened.
"Interview With The Vampire" turned out to be a very good film indeed, one
which, I hasten to predict, will be a tremendous moneymaker worldwide.
Unlike the recent "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein", which suffered to a
considerable degree from the inevitable comparisons to the mass of earlier
treatments of the well-known story, "Interview With The Vampire" approaches
the legends of the "un-dead" bloodthirsty folk from a unique perspective.
More of a character study than a horror film in many ways (though the
characters being studied certainly have their horrific elements and engage
in suitably horrid behavior), the film successfully explores the issues of
vampirism with a focus on the varied personalities of the individual vampires
themselves. It is quite sensibly suggested that individual differences
between vampires can be quite diverse, and that they are as prone to love,
hate, jealousy, and other emotions as any living persons.
Concerns that Tom Cruise (playing the vampire Lestat) would be unable to
appropriately execute the role turned out to be unfounded. It's a fine
performance, and in retrospect his casting choice was excellent. Cruise's
acting talent seems subject to underrating from time to time, but his work
in this film, which to any actor would have been a considerable stretch,
should help firmly establish him as a quality performer well able to
successfully take on quite diverse roles.
Brad Pitt's performance as Louis, the depressed 18th century southern
gentleman "recruited" into vampirism by Lestat, is fine but somewhat
subdued. But then again the character himself is introspective and ridden
with self-doubt, both before and after the transition from human to
vampire. The performance by Kirsten Dunst as child vampire Claudia is
particularly noteworthy. Her character is in some ways the most chilling of
the three, and it was a decidedly difficult role. We learn through Claudia
that it's an extremely poor idea to turn a little girl into a vampire; the
consequences both to humans and other vampires can be quite unfortunate.
When you think of vampire movies you of course think of blood, bites, and
special effects. All of these elements are present in "Interview With The
Vampire", but they are not the primary aspects of the film. While there are
certainly some rather gory scenes, this film is not primarily trying to
shock its audience. If you're looking for rivers of blood and mountains of
corpses with overwhelming special effects, this may not be the right film for
you. If you're interested in exploring what it might be like to become a
vampire, and how your original humanity might be affected by such a change,
then you'll definitely be intrigued by this movie. It's somehow reassuring
to learn that vampires can have their own hassles in daily living (well,
daily existing, anyway), even to the extent of forming what director Neil
Jordan calls "the ultimate dysfunctional family."
No movie is perfect. Some sections dragged a bit, the performances even
among some of the primary actors were somewhat uneven at times, and there
were plot elements which were not entirely clear. But overall the production
values were quite high, the acting was good, and most importantly the film
has a totality of emotional impact that is unique, valuable, and impossible
to ignore. I recommend it highly.
Of course, we're left with the nagging question of how we ourselves would
react if given the choice sometimes offered by Lestat--the choice of death or
vampirism, the choice he himself never had. By the end of the film, knowing
what we now know about the "reality" of vampires, the question takes on an
added dimension of complexity. I'd suggest starting to ponder the answer
now, well before the question is actually thrust upon you. After all,
there's no point in waiting until the last minute...
[ Professor Neon ]
neon@vortex.com
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Professor Neon's rating for "Interview With The Vampire"
(0-10, 5=average, 10=best): 8.5
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