This 1994 movie is
based on the best seller "Interview with a Vampire" by Anne Rice
that also caused quite a controversy due to the implied homosexual
relationship between two male vampires. At the time, political
correctness was still a buzz word that since then has been embraced
by society, ensuring less victimization of minority groups. Whether
this has worked is another question and apart from this quick
snapshot of social commentary, Interview with a Vampire was a horror
thriller that not only challenged the current dribble of horror
movies, it proved to the world that this genre could be
professionally written for mainstream.
The tale involves two
vampires, the flamboyant immortal Lestat (Tom Cruise) who has been
on this Earth for many centuries and the subtle yet moralistically
correct Louis (Brad Pitt). Interview with a Vampire is the fall and
rise of Louis within the world of man and vampires who is lured by
Lestat to become a vampire through some unquestionable tactics.
Louis eventually becomes the protégé of Lestat, however both their
lives are changed when they meet a young girl (Kirsten Dunst) who has
been turned and to compound the situation, will never experience
"growing up".
Masterfully directed by Neil Jordan, he brings forth a
variety of vampire myths to the film that also focuses on a variety
of different eras and countries. The most memorable scene in the
movie is the torture and murder of a French girl that is made to
look like a play, however the actors are vampires and the girl is an
innocent who is being watched by the French aristocrat humans. It's
these little twists and scenes that make Interview with a Vampire such a
compelling movie and the twist at the end is priceless.
It's a shame
that Interview with a Vampire never spawned a true sequel as Cruise
and Pitt are brilliant as these two damned immortals who begin as
friends and eventually become adversaries. The movie features
some strong performances by Antonio Banderas, Christan Slater and
Thandie Newton and it's good to see that many of the actors in this
movie have moved onto bigger and better things.
On Blu-ray the
video and audio is quite exceptional for a film that is over 15
years and on our high definition screen, it looked quite stellar
that is equally matched through the surround sound which the movie
fully utilized. Definitely the "thinking" man or woman's horror movie!