AMC has finally released its new Interview with the Vampire series, but a portion of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles was already turned into a gothic blockbuster starring Tom Cruise as the Brat Prince Lestat and Brad Pitt as the perpetually melancholy Louis. At the time of the film's release in 1994, fans of Rice's gothic novels were worried that Neil Jordan's movie wouldn't do the source material justice, and Rice herself protested Cruise's casting, but even the controversy couldn't suck the life out of this surprise '90s hit.
Early forums on the internet were buzzing with activity from Rice's fandom, and these days Reddit is the same. From viewing Cruise's performance as the definitive version of Lestat, to thinking that the film hasn't aged well and never got the books right, unpopular opinions persist about Interview with the Vampire.
Interview With The Vampire Is A Horrible Adaptation Of The Book
Rice's novels have a strong and passionate following, so it's natural many would find fault with a cinematic interpretation that follows an obvious vampire movie formula, but most fans concluded that aside from a few casting problems, Interview with the Vampire captures the essence of the book. Shagrrotten writes, "I think the movie is a dog s*** adaptation of the book (one of my favorite novels that I'm re-reading at the moment), wildly miscast and misconceived, seemingly not understanding the book at all."
To declare it universally horrible as an adaptation is rare, with most fans conceding that for being a mainstream interpretation with famous actors it does the trick. The majority of fans, like Jesuisaware, feel it was a "good movie that follows the book pretty well." Given how strong the violence is, the homoerotic themes, and the cerebral concepts, it remained truer to Rice's work than it could have.
Interview With The Vampire Hasn't Aged Well
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Other than the stars of the decade, there's not much evidence that Interview with the Vampire is too dated. Much of the movie is a period piece spanning several centuries, and the visual effects in the early '90s are mostly practical and well-placed. According to swampy13, "it's enjoyable and has some good performances, but it is a ridiculous movie. The overwrought dialogue and overacting makes it not age well, but it's fun to watch."
Most fans like Rice's writing style for her elegant language, and she is credited with developing the screenplay, resulting in their enjoyment of the script and its delivery. By contrast, discoschtick "felt the opposite. I saw it for the first time a couple years ago and find many movies from that era to be very dated but I didnt feel that way about this one," implying that it succeeds in feeling timeless.
Louis & Lestat Were Never Gay
While Rice has a different way of showing romantic love between vampires than other pieces in the genre, and sex functions on different levels, there's enough homoerotic subtext in the novel for fans to conclude that Louis and Lestat should be considered a couple. Palgary believes, "Lestat falls in love with Louie, but it's an unrequited love, Louie cares for Lestat but he is not homosexual. I believe Lestat is bisexual, and other characters are homosexual, but not Louie."
One Redditor disagrees, "It was known as 'the gayest of vampire movies' until Twilight came out." AMC's new Interview with the Vampire series has chosen to take out the subtext altogether, but even without it plainly stating both Louis and Lestat are in a relationship together, most fans think the movie took their connection as far as it could go in Jordan's film.
Tom Cruise Played Lestat Correctly Based On Anne Rice's Books
Cruise was a wild card casting for Lestat, and Rice herself was against his involvement from the start in widely publicized interviews. One Redditor ponders,"I was a fan of the books before the movie came out. When I first heard they cast Tom Cruise as Lestat, my first thought was, 'Tom Cruise is going to play a 6’ tall blonde Frenchman? How the hell is that going to work?'" Despite the physical inconsistencies, Cruise's performance remains underrated by those outside the fandom.
"His character doesn't show any vulnerability throughout the movie - things that trouble Louis he flippantly ignores - which is the correct portrayal," asserts temp0557 by contrast, feels that Cruise still captured Lestat's interactions with humanity and Louis's prudish reaction to it.
Tom Cruise Didn't Give A Good Performance
While Cruise can be said to portray similar types of characters in his action movies, most fans admit he completely disappears into the role of Lestat in Interview with the Vampire and gives one of the finest performances of his career. A small minority feel, like one Redditor, that "Once again cruise was completely cast against type and only served to annoy the author by getting the part."
The majority of fans agree with FilliusTExplodio who thinks Cruise "is very vulnerable in that movie, he just hides it behind a smile. At the very end when he's begging Louis to help him in the modern days, its pretty raw. I still submit Cruise did some of his finest acting in that role."
Brad Pitt Is Perfect As Louis
Contrasting with Cruise's unhinged performance, Brad Pitt's mournful interpretation of Louis is widely considered wooden. Other than Pitt's character having a great hairstyle and looking ethereally beautiful, most fans don't think he brought much to the role, but xtrawork posits, "having read all of the books twice each, Louis came across as miserably depressed in all the books... I thought he was pretty spot on to be honest."
In sharp contrast, OneEyeCoral thinks "Brad Pitt looked like some B-list actor." Louis is the narrator for the novel, and fans get a unique look inside his state of mind while he interacts with colorful characters like Lestat, Armand, and Claudia, but most fans feel like Pitt could have done more to fully inhabit the character and make him more interesting.
Kirsten Dunst Is The Only Actor Who Embodies Her Character
Many fans believe Interview with the Vampire is one of Kirsten Dunst's best movies. The 12-year-old actress had a tall order — portray a 65-year-old woman trapped in a five-year-old's body, unable to be seen as anything but a girl, and used as a pawn between Lestat and Louis. While praise for her performance is almost universal, it's rare to see anyone believe she was the best aspect of the film. According to Lord_Erie, "she was the most true to the novel character in the movie. Loved it."
Most fans concede that in addition to Dunst, Cruise fully inhabited Lestat, and that the only actor to be wholly unconvincing was Antonio Banderas as Armand, whose version is a far cry from the source material.
Brad Pitt Gives The Worst Performance Of Any Movie
Pitt might have not captured Louis's essence completely, drifting through scenes like he's sleepwalking, but most fans feel he did an adequate job. It's easy to see how much Cruise outshines him with a more hedonistic character and a more dynamic performance.
OriginalMuffin thinks "Brad Pitt’s performance when the house sets on fire might be him at his worst in any movie" and is "noticeably bad." As unconvincing as Pitt might seem as Louis, his performance is considered serviceable, especially as the straight man to be played off of, especially during Cruise's more campy and humorous scenes.
Antontio Banderas Is Great As Armand
Of all the participating actors in Interview with the Vampire, Banderas receives the most backlash. His character Armand, who is supposed to be a teenager with light hair, is a far cry from his novel counterpart, and thus pulls the majority of fans out of the film.
"I love Antonio Banderas as Armand," says pnomsen, "even though he was totally wrong. Armand is a red-haired Russian teenager in the books! But I still love Antonio as him." In order to fully invest in Banderas and his performance, fans have to suspend their disbelief and see him as simply a different character.
The Ending Was Bad
The final scene in Interview with the Vampire involves the interviewer leaving San Francisco and going over the Golden Gate Bridge, unaware of the passenger he carries. Lestat pops out in a sudden jump scare and bites him, creating a fun moment of surprise for fans who thought they'd seen the last of the Brat Prince.
One Redditor thinks the movie had "a terrible ending," but most fans concede that while the scene wasn't in the book, it successfully generates interest in Lestat. He proved so popular that he returned in Queen of the Damned, but the movie's poor box office performance prevented any further exploration of Lestat's character until now.