Interview with the Vampire

Overview

Anne Rice's best-selling romantic horror tale about the origins of a centuries-old vampire inspired this popular, atmospheric chiller. One of director Neil Jordan's major Hollywood productions, the film stays close to its source material, retaining the frame of a young reporter (Christian Slater) interviewing a man who claims to be a 200-year-old vampire. The man, Louis (Brad Pitt), shares his story, beginning in 18th-century New Orleans with his first encounters with the charismatic and decadent vampire Lestat (Tom Cruise). Lestat converts Louis to blood-sucking and immortality, but Louis fails to adopt Lestat's cavalier attitude, instead tormenting himself with guilt over his new nature. The two vampires remain deeply, if reluctantly, connected over the years, while becoming intimately involved with others of their kind, including Claudia (Kirsten Dunst), a mature immortal in a young child's body. Fans of the novel raised numerous objections, particularly after Rice initially spoke out against the casting of Cruise as Lestat; further casting difficulties followed the death of River Phoenix, whose role as the interviewer was assumed by Christian Slater. Rice later recanted her objections, and the combination of thrills and gothic romance proved popular with audiences.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/27/2010
UPC:	0883929146017
Original Release:	1994
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:02:00

Special Features

Behind-the-scenes documentary In the Shadow of the Vampire, featuring interviews with the film's stars and creators; Audio commentary by director Neil Jordan; Introduction by Anne Rice, Neil Jordan and Antonio Banderas; Production notes; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Tom Cruise	Lestat
Brad Pitt	Louis
Christian Slater	Malloy
Kirsten Dunst	Claudia
Stephen Rea	Santiago
Antonio Banderas	Armand
Domiziana Giordano	Madeleine
Virginia McCollam	Prostitute on Waterfront
John McConnell	Gambler
Mike Seelig	Pimp
Bellina Logan	Tavern Girl
Lyla Hay Owen	Widow St. Clair
Monte Montague	Plague Victim Bearer
Nathalie Bloch	Maid
Jeanette Kontomitras	Woman in Square
Roger Lloyd-Pack	Piano Teacher
George Kelly	Dollmaker
Nicole DuBois	Creole Woman
Micha Bergese	Paris Vampire
Rory Edwards	Paris Vampire
Marcel Iures	Paris Vampire
Susan Lynch	Paris Vampire
Louise Salter	Paris Vampire
Matthew Sim	Paris Vampire
Francois Testory	Paris Vampire,Paris Vampire
Andrew Tiernan	Paris Vampire
Simon Tyrrell	Paris Vampire
George Yiasoumi	Paris Vampire
Sara Stockbridge	Estelle,Estelle
Laure Marsac	Mortal Woman on Stage
Katia Caballero	Woman in Audience
Louis Lewis-Smith	Mortal Boy
Indra Ové	New Orleans whore
Jon Favreau	Actor
Helen McCrory	2nd New Orleans Whore
Thandiwe Newton	Yvette
Lee E. Scharfstein	Widow's Lover
Ben Gardiner	Bum
Susie Figgis	Actor
Miranda Richardson	Actor
Juliet Taylor	Actor
John "Spud" McConnell	Gambler
Lyla Kay Owen	Widow St. Clair
Elliot Goldenthal	Composer
George Fenton	Composer

Technical Credits

Neil Jordan

Anne Rice

Michael Cristofer

Neil Jordan	Director,Screenwriter
Anne Rice	Screenwriter
David Geffen	Producer
Stephen Woolley	Producer
Redmond Morris	Producer
Tom Fleischman	Sound Effects
Michael Cristofer	Screenwriter
Robert Zajonc	Stunts
Robert Legato	Special Effects
Clive Winter	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

The flap over whether Tom Cruise could pull off a blonde, long-haired vampire, about as far afield from anything he'd done as you can get, proved to be justified, but the miscasting is only one of the flaws of this intermittently pleasurable, but ultimately frustrating film. Cruise can't be blamed for giving anything less than his all, but a more European, Victorian actor (Daniel Day-Lewis had been mentioned) would have been a smarter translation of Anne Rice's seductive antihero. Brad Pitt compounds things by moping for much of the movie, bringing the number of charismatic actors misused by director Neil Jordan to two. What Jordan gets right is the gothic wantonness and moldering grandeur of old-world New Orleans, which becomes a character in itself through the Oscar-nominated art direction. The subculture of blood-sucking socialites is truly eerie, and the violence is more raw and grisly than was permissible in a stylized outing like Bram Stoker's Dracula. Making as big an impact as anything is 11-year-old Kirsten Dunst, in her Golden Globe-nominated breakthrough, thirstier for blood than most movie children get to be. Because of such heavy R-rated subject matter, audiences were divided on Interview With the Vampire depending on what they could tolerate. The only mediocre success of what could have been a franchise suggests that there is something untranslatable about Rice's stylish prose, which may also shed light on the slow crawl of her other novels toward the big screen.