Interview with the Vampire (2000, VHS)

Browbeat me all you want. I found this pitiful adaptation of a vampires life enjoyable. I liked the premise of Brad Pitt and Christian Slater setting down for a little tete-a-tete. I liked the campy humor and the outlandish floating, flying and generally otherwise bad stunts. Ok, biting my tongue, I even liked Tom Cruise with his prissy shirts and ruffles and his horribly lonely life. I guess one never thinks what it would be like to live hundreds of years with no real friends. (that is, until I wrote this review)

I also liked the fact that although these two pretty boy toys remain pretty (well, except for that one particularly nasty scene for Tom), there is still that unwholesome feel to them, that 'unclean' feel, like their breath should smell like rotting flesh or something. There was just the hint of homosexuality but also a flagrantly sexual overtone as well. And the child! I felt slightly pedophilic watching Kirsten Dunst in her role. A wonderful performance by a child star.

I got chills when she turns and hisses "I want more". Again, I think how horrible it would be to be trapped in that small little girls body with the mind of an aged crone. An aged evil crone, I might add! Although her outward appearance does not change, you are made to believe by her actions, attitude and some wonderful makeup work that she is aging before your eyes. And frankly, there is just something a little creepy in finding a dead body nestled among her stuff animals.

Antonio Banderas and Stephen Rea were intriguing in their vampiric roles with the incredible idea of vampires playing people playing vampires! What a campy twist! As vampires they are both erotically seductive and terrifyingly real. I was particularly taken with their lair under Paris with the endless array of vampire shelves (aka beds).

While most of the scenes were back alleys and bedrooms, you still got an opulent feel. The alleys were appropriately grimy and seedy and the bedrooms were almost brothel like in their decoration. The clothing, however, was entirely different with all those flouncy dresses and ruffled shirts and those great tight pants the guys wore. The colors were rich and the designs breathtaking, not that dreary vampire garb at all. The men, in their vampirish tuxes and capes were delicious.

This wasn't a particularly sinister movie, the vampires seem almost (pardon the pun) human. In fact, there were fairly pitiful in their roles of endlessly roaming undead souls. Probably the most vile was Kirsten Dunst, the child, as she appears to enjoy her vampirian role in life (death/undead/not dead). Indeed, I felt somewhat sad for these creatures with no place to call home.

It wasn't that the acting was that great, or that the story was that unusual, there have certainly been better vampire movies and definitely better actors. It was just the idea....what a great idea! And popularity be damned, I liked the extra campy ending....."Please let me introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and fame......"