Interview with the Vampire

1994 Horror

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. more..

Director: Neil Jordan

Starring: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Christian Slater,Kirsten Dunst, Stephen Rea

Reviews

  • The generally faithful script is by Anne Rice herself, the director is "The Crying Game"'s Neil Jordan, and both seem true to themselves and as true as they can be to artistic and visceral expectations.

    Mike Clark - USA Today

    26 April 2013

  • Bold, gruesome and melancholic, this Gothic horrorfest offers us much to sink our teeth into: Cruise - who effectively disappears from the screen for half the film's duration - is terrific, Dunst eerily compelling, Banderas hypnotic.

    Adam Smith - Empire

    26 April 2013

  • His sumptuous film is as strange and mesmerizing as it is imaginatively ghastly. It's a sophisticated, spookily intense rendering of Ms. Rice's story.

    Elvis Mitchell - The New York Times

    26 April 2013

  • A stronger plot engine might have drawn us more quickly to the end, but on a scene by scene basis, Interview with the Vampire is a skillful exercise in macabre imagination.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    26 April 2013

  • But for all its visionary brilliance, the movie version of Interview never lets us close enough to see ourselves in Louis. We're dazzled but unmoved.

    Peter Travers - Rolling Stone

    26 April 2013

Awards

  • Top Box Office Films

    ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards (1995)

  • Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

    Academy Awards (1995)

     
  • Best Costumes

    Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (1995)

  • Best Cinematography

    BAFTA Awards (1995)

  • Best Supporting Actress

    Boston Society of Film Critics Awards (1994)