The third day of watching mainly horror movies in October had to be a vampire film. I had a few to choose from, but ended up watching Interview with a Vampire. This is the first time I’ve watched this film, but it’s one I knew about quite a bit about. I enjoyed aspects of the film, but I wasn’t blown away by it either. I give Interview with a Vampire the Decent Watch rating.
Interview with a Vampire has a stellar cast and interest take on the vampire mythology
Malloy (Christian Slater) is a writer who has decided to interview Louis (Brad Pitt) because he seemed interesting. Of course, Malloy couldn’t have been any more right as Louis begins to tell him his life story admitting quickly that he is a vampire. Malloy initially assumes this is a joke, but quickly learns that Louis couldn’t be more serious.
The framing device established in the opening sequence allows us to travel back to the time when Louis was turned into a vampire. Lestat (Tom Cruise) gives Louis the choice of death or eternal life. Louis had given up on the world after his wife and child had died. Lestat saw this weakness and longing for death as a possibility for a companion. Louis accepts the offer, but soon finds the vampire lifestyle isn’t for him.
The story is an interesting one and it adheres to enough vampire lore that I’m comfortable with the film. I really enjoyed Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in the movie. Kirsten Dunst gives a pretty impressive performance for her young age as the young vampire, Claudia. My favorite part of the film is the time where the three of them are enjoying the vampire life. This section of the film is easily the most compelling to watch. Claudia’s transformation is tragic due to her age, but she was orphaned due to the plague. It makes it seem a little more sympathetic than some of the other transformations.
The setting of the story makes for interesting sets
The production of the film is quite beautiful. Much of the film takes place in the late 1700’s in New Orleans. The costumes and style are beautiful as a result. The film doesn’t offer much of an explanation to the multiple killings the trio does as no one really comes looking for killers. That’s not always the case, but it definitely seems to imply the rest of the world is blind to all the missing people.
A great example of this oblivious nature of the humans in the film is seen with Antonio Banderas. His character, Armand, has a troupe of vampires that puts on plays. The audience thinks they are watching a production, but really they are observing a feeding. While in a vacuum of a single performance, I could see how they would think nothing of it. However, they appear to use the same theater night after night with a different victim each time. This seems a bit too obvious that something is amiss.
Final thoughts on Interview with a Vampire
Even with some of the silly parts, and Tom Cruise does ham it up a bit, the film is enjoyable. The film does suffer from the time a bit as some of the effects didn’t hold up well. Then again, some of the vampire make up is extremely well done. I don’t think this will be one that works its way into my regular rotation. Yet, I do see why other people love this movie.
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