OVP: Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Film: Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Stars: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Stephen Rea, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater, Kirsten Dunster

Director: Neil Jordan

Oscar History: 2 nominations (Best Art Direction, Score)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

All October long, The Many Rantings of John is running a marathon dedicated to the Horror classics of the 1960's-00's that I'm seeing for the first time this month.  If you want to take a look at past titles from previous horror marathons (both this and other seasons) check out the links at the bottom of this article.

The 1990's were really the last decade that was indisputably about the movie star, and even horror, a genre famous for having B-Grade names and a willingness to tackle unknown actors, was not immune to trying to use big names to guarantee major box office.  One of the biggest hits of the mid-1990's, in fact, was a horror film starring two of the most important movie stars on the planet, Tom Cruise & Brad Pitt. The film is, of course, Interview with the Vampire, and while I am a huge Brad Pitt fan (he is maybe my favorite working American actor?), this has been the most glaring gap in my viewing filmography of his (it is my 38th Brad Pitt film, putting him squarely in the Top 5 most-viewed movie actors ever for me).  The movie was nominated for two Oscars, keeping with our trend this month of favoring Oscar-nominated horror movies, but let's be honest-this is all about the gigantic stars at the center of its cast, facing off in the only movie they have made together (to date).

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is told in flashback, here by Louis (Pitt), a centuries-old vampire who is telling Daniel Molloy (Bale) the story of his life.  The film goes back to Louis beginning as a vampire, when, widowed and with a dead child, he wants to die, but a vampire named Lestat (Cruise) has other ideas, and turns him into a vampire, initially as his companion.  This becomes a problem when Louis cannot stomach the constant murder that comes with being a vampire, living off of rats & chickens rather than humans like Lestat.  He finally breaks with the orphaned girl Claudia (Dunst), who is dying of the plague, and as a treat, Lestat turns her into a vampire too.  The problem is that she cannot age, and will remain a young girl forever, which makes her angry and restless, blaming Lestat for her condition.  She and Louis try to kill Lestat, and flee to Europe, where they meet a band of vampires including Santiago (Rea) and Armand (Banderas).  Santiago tries to kill them both for the "unforgivable crime" of killing a vampire, which they think they did to Lestat, in the process killing Claudia but not Louis (who gets his revenge by killing all of the vampire coven except Armand).  The film ends with us back to the present day, where Daniel begs to become a vampire, Louis realizing in the process that he has learned nothing (human beings will always want immortality, no matter the price), and Daniel, fleeing, runs into Lestat, who bites his neck, and offers him "a choice" indicating that he will have to choose whether to die or become a vampire, the same choice that was once offered to Louis.

The movie's horror elements are pretty minimal.  Other than Lestat's jumpscare at the end with Daniel, it's honestly not even scary, and I don't know that it's meant to be-it functions in a lot of ways like a very dark gothic novel, perhaps more Alexandre Dumas than Bram Stoker.  Its horror tag is solely based on the vampire aesthetic, which is good.  The Oscar nominations are totally earned-I loved the shifting cities and looks of the vampires (the way that they continually seem themselves, slightly out-of-place, no matter the century they're in), and the Goldenthal score is both extravagant and a bit cheeky, which works with the picture.

That's because while it's not a good movie (it's too decadent and ridiculous to actually be good), Interview with the Vampire is a fun movie.  Cruise is delicious, and honestly kind of a riot as Lestat, forever being a total bitch to everyone.  Both of these characters (as well as Banderas's) are obviously intended to be gay (or at least sexually fluid), but only Cruise has the balls to actually play him that way, not just when he seduces a young fop (that looks comically like him), but also just in general-he's flirting with Louis like a married couple the entire movie.  The best performance in the film is Dunst's, which shows a real range.  She was nominated for a Golden Globe for this (she missed with the Oscars), and it shows why-just a child when it happened, she showed a remarkable ability to feel like (toward the end) she is channeling a bratty teenager or young woman who is constantly frustrated by her inability to grow up.  It's good stuff, and makes her cruel fate even harder to stomach-she never stood a chance.

1920's: The Golem, The Phantom of the Opera

1930's: The Black Cat, The Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, Dracula's Daughter, Frankenstein, Freaks, The Invisible Man, Mad Love, The Mummy, The Old Dark House, The Raven, Son of Frankenstein, Werewolf of London

1940's: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Cat People, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Dracula, The House of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man Returns, The Invisible Man's Revenge, The Invisible Woman, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Invisible Agent, The Mummy's Curse, The Mummy's Ghost, The Mummy's Hand, The Mummy's Tomb, Phantom of the Opera, She-Wolf of London, Son of Dracula, The Uninvited, The Wolf Man

1950's: Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy, Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, The Blob, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Creature Walks Among Us, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, It Came from Outer Space, Revenge of the Creature

1960's: The Devil Rides Out, The Innocents, The Masque of the Red Death, Night of the Living Dead,Village of the Damned

1970's: The Amityville Horror, Black Christmas, Carrie, Dawn of the Dead, Don't Look Now, Flatliners Halloween, The Hills Have Eyes, The Omen, Phantom of the Paradise, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, When a Stranger Calls, The Wicker Man

1980's: Altered States, An American Werewolf in London, The Changeling, Child's Play, The Evil Dead, The Fly, The Fog, Friday the 13th, Gremlins, Hellraiser, The House on Sorority Row, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Pet Sematary, Poltergeist, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, Sleepaway Camp, The Thing

1990's-Present: Arachnophobia, The Blair Witch Project, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Candyman, Flatliners, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Paranormal Activity, Scary Movie, Scream