Interview with the Vampire

Title: Interview With the Vampire (1994)

Director: Neil Jordan

Cast: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Christian Slater, Antonio Banderas

Summary: A vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness, and hunger.

Sup all it's Ari, and I'm here to remove your nostalgia goggles on old movies. For centuries the myth of the vampire and creatures like it have haunted people to the point where it is a pop culture icon. From Nosferatu all the way down to an animated Adam Sandler, in the west when one sees fangs it usually means a vampire. 

With the '90s being all the craze, it was pretty obvious that with the grunge scene the vampire came back. The big two making them the mainstream had to Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But what after it, well we're going to have to go to three movies for our main cast in this movie:

JD "The Heathers"

JD "Thelma & Louise"

Maverick "Top Gun"

That's right, today we're reviewing Neil Jordan's 1994 cult classic, Interview with the Vampire. So if you haven't seen it fair warning since we'll be going into spoiler territory. Anyways, let's get into it.

To have Louis be from New Orleans makes the story interesting, they could have picked any area, but they choose New Orleans. I guess because New Orleans is a place that the supernatural go to. I never saw this movie until I did for this review and I couldn't stop laughing at certain points. I guess because it's meant to be a pseudo-gothic romance, a romance that deals with desolate and mysterious and grotesque events, on vampires, but my god I busted out laughing five times, and for each, they revolved around our two main vampires. Honestly, the plot was Louis (Brad Pitt) getting into running away from and reuniting with his abusive boyfriend/husband Lestat (Tom Cruise). Except he doesn't go back to Lestat and moves on. There were moments where I laughed and one of them had to have been when Cruise was turning Pitt, the way they did it is just too funny for me.

Heck overall for the plot I thought it was a raunchy fanfiction about Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Christian Slater. However there is one scene that made me feel uncomfortable, I think it's what many people remember of it. Kristen Dunst plays Claudia, the adoptive daughter of Lestat and Louis, physically she's 12, but in reality, she was in her forties. In this scene Claudia kisses Louis, I say 12 because during the release Kristen Dunst was around the 11-12 age while Brad Pitt was in his early 30's. I think that alone explains why I felt so uncomfortable.

So with that in mind, I can say these actors were so good with the roles...but Tom Cruise was one of my favorites. The way he acted honestly looked like he was having fun for playing a villain. Brad Pitt was ok, but it felt a bit forced with how depressed he was, granted for his character he did it right but he sounded so one note you couldn't tell whenever he was happy. For Christian Slater, with little screen time he had, it was quite nice seeing him different from a sociopathic killer. He does a good job with the character he's given, and his plea to be a vampire feel so much more real. And to the Latin lover, Banderas plays the role in a way that suits him, to put it in perspective Banderas' character is the ex of Lestat and helps Louis by trying to seduce him. And with our leading lady, Kristen Dunst plays Claudia the best she could as a near middle-aged woman in the body of a child, her fits are for good reason and she does them well. 

I can't say I've seen much of Neil Jordan, but the way he does makes the film feel like the gothic romance it is. What I like is that they have the author of the book be the screenplay writer. Rice knows the characters and knew how they would be on the big screen so it's a nice touch.

This movie feels like a fanfiction of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, but to me, this is what started it, and girls haven't left that bandwagon since. It's not Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it's right before Blade so there aren't really killer vampires in leather in this, they wear velvet. This film isn't Buffy, but it's not Blade. It's closer to Bram Stoker's Dracula in how of a gothic romance it is and it holds up on its own. I can't lie and say that two jump scares worked perfectly and they revolve around Tom Cruise. 

With that in mind, Interview with the Vampire is a movie that Twilight fans will love, then again these are real vampires. The story is fluid and plays a nice spin on vampires, though there are traits from this film that influence other movies.

With that, I'm gonna give this movie a B-. It's a vampire story before the dark and gritty films of Blade but right after the teen sensation of Buffy. 

To find out what next week's review is, follow me on Instagram @scriptwizard1998 for a clue.

Till then keep those rosy goggles on till I rip them off your face. See you in the next review!