Jump to the good stuff: The Story | Some Thoughts | The Final Verdict
The Story:
Interview with the Vampire is an adaptation of the novel by Ann Rice.
In 1973 Daniel (Eric Bogosian), a young journalist, interviewed the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) in San Fransisco but it was never published. Forty-nine years later, Louis grants him a second interview in Dubai, where he will stay as Louis’s guest. This is a second chance, and one that Daniel, who is suffering from Parkinsons Disease, can’t refuse.
In Dubai, Louis starts the interview recounting how he, a black man living in New Orleans in the 1910, met and fell in love with Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid). At first, he thought Lestat was a European businessman who had taken an interest in him. Their friendship starts with Lestat helping him buy a high-end brothel, then quickly becomes physical. And when Lestat shows his true nature and turns Luis into a vampire, he becomes frightened of him.
While Lestat takes pleasure in hunting humans, Louis longs for his mortal self and feeds off small animals. Although Louis wants to leave Lestat, he can’t break from his feelings for him.
After an altercation Louis has with an affluent member of New Orleans society, the black section of town is set on fire. Distraught and feeling responsible, Louis runs through the streets, buildings burning around him, and hears a mother and daughter trapped in a burning building. Unable to save the mother, he turns to the teenage daughter, Claudia (Bailey Bass), and rescues her. He brings her to Lestat, who turns her into a vampire.
And so, the vampire family is born, and the drama begins.
Some Thoughts:
Like most film adaptations of novels, Interview with the Vampire takes many liberties. Just know that it’s not true to the book but gets much of the plot right.
The story is a bit farfetched, especially since Lestat and Louis don’t keep their relationship much of a secret. Throw in that Louis is black and making business deals with connected rich white men, and it does stretch believability some. Still, the acting is decent, Anderson and Reid have chemistry, and the story is interesting enough that it’s easy to suspend belief.
I thought Claudia’s age being changed from five to fourteen would be too much of a stretch, but it works. Her anger at being turned just before blossoming into adulthood feels like the perfect slap in the face to fuel her hostility. And Bass does such a good job with the role, giving life to such a multifaceted character.
Reid plays Lestat like an arrogant dandy playing mere mortals for the fools that they are. He may be the villain, but Reid plays him with such relish that it’s always a joy when he’s on screen.
Anderson has the more difficult character to portray because Louis is not as over the top as Lestat or Claudia. But Anderson is up for the job, showing Louis’s anguish at the loss of his family, his mortality, and the difficult feelings he has for Lestat.
The Final Verdict:
Like the book, the AMC series of Interview with the Vampire plays like a soapy melodrama. If you’re able to suspend belief about the implication of a gay interracial relationship set in 1910 New Orleans, it’s a rather enjoyable romp.
