Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) - ★★★½

Director: Neil Jordan
Writers: Anne Rice (Screenplay and Novel)
Stars: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater

You know what Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Antonio Banderas have in common? They're three of the sexiest vampires in the history of cinema! I have to say, this would have to be one of my personal favorite vampire movies. What's better than a movie filled with sexy vampires? A good quality movie with sexy vampires! But seriously, this is an example of an occult film gone right. With absolutely marvelous performances and a story that never fails to interest me, it's no wonder I found this thrilling from start to finish. At times it does get a bit ridiculous and the ending could have done with a more thorough explanation, but in the end I found it very enjoyable.

The sassiest vampire child ever.

A plantation owner named Louis (Brad Pitt) gave up on life after his wife and child died. Seeing his reckless ways in a tavern one night, a vampire named Lestat (Tom Cruise) gives Louis the choice to die or become a vampire. Louis chooses to become a vampire, which brings us on an extremely interesting journey with a vampire that is constantly at war with himself.

I'll just say it outright, Kirsten Dunst steals the show! She gave the best performance hands down. Her performance in this has officially given her a place on my list of greatest child actors of all time, which includes Margaret O'Brien and Freddie Bartholomew amongst others. Yes, I enjoyed her character the most. She was a little girl that gets turned into a vampire, thus cursed to look and sound like a child for all eternity. At times she was fiendish and evil, then she'd be cute and sweet! Ah, she really made the movie for me.

I'm not a huge fan of Tom Cruise, but here he shows that he's more than just a pretty face. This happens to be my personal favorite performance by Cruise, followed closely by his role in Magnolia (1999). He played a cruel vampire with a wicked sense of humor. My goodness did he light up the screen! I don't like his character, but I couldn't help but laugh with him! His personality is infectious, which made the film way more entertaining. Brad Pitt is the main character and gives a fine performance, but unfortunately he is lost in the shadow of Dunst and Cruise.

I really liked the way they made the vampires, which is mainly traditional but with a modern twist. They need to sleep in coffins and they look like veiny supermodels (which is fine by me). You can't kill them with a stake and I believe they can only die through sunlight (or perhaps by fire). I just thought they were really cool, especially with the personalities of Dunst and Cruise.

Even though I enjoyed it immensely, I had some problems with the movie. To me, the ending just didn't do justice to the great quality of the story. Let's just say that a character returns, without telling us the who, what, when, where, why and most of all, how! It just seemed rushed, leaving the audience to guess the answers to these questions. BUT, I loved the usage of The Rolling Stones at the end of the film. That was epic, fitting the movie perfectly.

Well, I can definitely see how some people would dislike this film. It's pretty bloody and far from a classic. It's a very good quality Hollywood blockbuster. In the end, I loved this film. Whenever I think of Dunst and Cruise, I smile. It just makes me happy to see them give such high caliber performances. Interview with the Vampire was entertaining as hell, setting a high standard for all vampire films that follow it.