Main Cast: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Stephen Rea, Christian Slater
Release Year: 1994
Country: US
Run Time: 122 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
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. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Review
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. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Kirsten Dunst - Claudia; Domiziana Giordano - Madeleine; Thandie Newton - Yvette; Indra Ové - New Orleans Whore; Laure Marsac - Mortal Woman on Stage; Katia Caballero - Woman in Audience; George Kelly - Dollmaker; Jeanette Kontomitras - Woman in Square; Bellina Logan - Tavern Girl; Susan Lynch - Paris Vampire; John "Spud" McConnell - Gambler; Monte Montague - Plague Victim Bearer; Roger Lloyd Pack - Piano Teacher; Miranda Richardson; Sarah Stockbridge - Estelle; Andrew Tiernan - Paris Vampire; Micha Bergese - Paris Vampire; Lyla Kay Owen - Widow St. Clair; Juliet Taylor; Susie Figgis; Marcel Iures - Paris Vampire; Helen McCrory - 2nd New Orleans Whore
Credit
Jean-Michel Hugon - Art Director, Malcolm Middleton - Art Director, Alan Tomkins - Art Director, Jim Tocci - Art Director, Juliet Taylor - Casting, Susie Figgis - Casting, Redmond Morris - Co-producer, Sandy Powell - Costume Designer, Joseph R. Burns - First Assistant Director, Patrick Clayton - First Assistant Director, Michael Stevenson - First Assistant Director, Neil Jordan - Director, Mick Audsley - Editor, Joke Van Wijk - Editor, George Fenton - Composer (Music Score), Elliot Goldenthal - Composer (Music Score), Michele Burke - Makeup, Nick Dudman - Makeup, Sarah Monzani - Makeup, Morag Ross - Makeup, Stan Winston - Makeup Special Effects, Dante Ferretti - Production Designer, Philippe Rousselot - Cinematographer, David Geffen - Producer, Stephen Woolley - Producer, Francesca Lo Schiavo - Set Designer, Stella Furner - Set Designer, Monroe Kelly - Set Designer, Yves de Bono - Special Effects, Rob Legato - Special Effects, Clive Winter - Sound/Sound Designer, Robert "Bobby Z" Zajonc - Stunts, Michael Cristofer - Screenwriter, Neil Jordan - Screenwriter, Anne Rice - Screenwriter, Anne Rice - Book Author, Robert "Bobby Z" Zajonc - Pilot
