This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn't exist.
Interview with the Vampire has always had a certain kind of extravagance to it. It's seductive, quickly ensnaring you into the story. Before you know it, you're along for the ride, following every twist and turn with breathless anticipation.
The best-selling 1976 novel by Anne Rice, written shortly after the death of her young daughter, is an epic tale of love, loss, isolation and otherness. Numerous best-selling sequels followed, resulting in The Vampire Chronicles. Anne Rice created a magical world of vampire lore, elevating it from Bram Stoker's Dracula roots.
Then came the 1994 movie, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Anne Rice's vampires could best be described, in modern terms, as aesthetes. Their love of music, art, tailoring and literature shines through in each page of the novel. In the movie, Tom Cruise hams this up as Lestat de Lioncourt, and it works. Brad Pitt's Louis de Pointe du Lac turns the other cheek, has an existential crisis and falls into a pit of despair and remorse. It was a box-office success but due to the times, the movie downplayed the homosexual storyline. The mainstream wasn't ready for it back in the early 1990's.
But it's 2023 now and times have changed. With this new TV series, the vampires are still connoisseurs of culture. Louis de Pointe du Lac (played by Jacob Anderson) showcases his love of the written word by sitting down for an interview with journalist Daniel Molloy (a well cast, grumpy, Eric Bogosian). In this retelling, Louis is a black man, which works well, bringing forthright the ‘otherness' theme of the novels. Here Louis is a man who has settled himself with his fate. Though in flashbacks he is seen is more tempestuous, a hundred years later, time has almost mellowed him.
Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) is still an enjoyable dandy. His is a more restrained performance from Tom Cruise. Yet he still has that contempt, the suaveness and the savagery which lights up the screen. He is quickly enthralled by Louis, and feels a kinship in him with being an outcast of society.
There are no homosexual undertones here. The Hollywood homophobia is in the rearview mirror. Theirs is a forthright relationship which is established right from the start. It's nice that the TV series is able to lean into this more, as it deepens their story and makes it feel more ‘true'. Before we know it, Lestat and Louis are living together as best they can.
Of course before we know it, Claudia (now a teen instead of a child, played by Bailey Bass) shows up. Hers is an excellent dynamic and, age side, her character is incredibly true to the novel. She quickly grows frustrated and stultified with never being able to be more than a perennial teenager. This builds her animosity into taking drastic steps, resulting in a wonderful finale.
The New Orleans of the early 1900's is nicely brought to life. The sets are glamorous and the costuming is excellent. Casting for the supporting actors has been done well. There is gore, as once might expect in a vampure film, but it is not ostentatious.
The first series only covers a portion of the novel. A second series has already been commissioned, and due to a resolution between SAG-Aftra and AMC Networks, filming has recently resumed. It should be coming back to our screens sometime in the near future. In the meantime, the series is now available on BBC on demand, as well as Blu-Ray and DVD.
Special Features:
2022 San Diego Comic Con Panel
The DVD/Blu-ray disc is released on 6 November 2023.
