Interview with the Vampire

UPC: 883929003549

Studio: Warner Home Video

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Sexual Situations]

Summary: Anne Rice's best-selling romantic horror tale about the origins of a centuries-old vampire inspired this popular, atmospheric chiller. One of director Neil Jordan's major Hollywood productions, the film stays close to its source material, retaining the frame of a young reporter (Christian Slater) interviewing a man who claims to be a 200-year-old vampire. The man, Louis (Brad Pitt), shares his story, beginning in 18th-century New Orleans with his first encounters with the charismatic and decadent vampire Lestat (Tom Cruise). Lestat converts Louis to blood-sucking and immortality, but Louis fails to adopt Lestat's cavalier attitude, instead tormenting himself with guilt over his new nature. The two vampires remain deeply, if reluctantly, connected over the years, while becoming intimately involved with others of their kind, including Claudia (Kirsten Dunst), a mature immortal in a young child's body. Fans of the novel raised numerous objections, particularly after Rice initially spoke out against the casting of Cruise as Lestat; further casting difficulties followed the death of River Phoenix, whose role as the interviewer was assumed by Christian Slater. Rice later recanted her objections, and the combination of thrills and gothic romance proved popular with audiences. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Category: Horror

Awards: Best Supporting Actress – null Best Original Score – null Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Original Score – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Moti – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: Commentary by director Neil Jordan
Documentary In the Shadow of the Vampire
Introduction by Anne Rice, Neil Jordan and Antonio Banderas
Theatrical trailer

Interview with the Vampire

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 10/07/2008

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 123 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Derek Armstrong

The flap over whether Tom Cruise could pull off a blonde, long-haired vampire, about as far afield from anything he'd done as you can get, proved to be justified, but the miscasting is only one of the flaws of this intermittently pleasurable, but ultimately frustrating film. Cruise can't be blamed for giving anything less than his all, but a more European, Victorian actor (Daniel Day-Lewis had been mentioned) would have been a smarter translation of Anne Rice's seductive antihero. Brad Pitt compounds things by moping for much of the movie, bringing the number of charismatic actors misused by director Neil Jordan to two. What Jordan gets right is the gothic wantonness and moldering grandeur of old-world New Orleans, which becomes a character in itself through the Oscar-nominated art direction. The subculture of blood-sucking socialites is truly eerie, and the violence is more raw and grisly than was permissible in a stylized outing like Bram Stoker's Dracula. Making as big an impact as anything is 11-year-old Kirsten Dunst, in her Golden Globe-nominated breakthrough, thirstier for blood than most movie children get to be. Because of such heavy R-rated subject matter, audiences were divided on Interview With the Vampire depending on what they could tolerate. The only mediocre success of what could have been a franchise suggests that there is something untranslatable about Rice's stylish prose, which may also shed light on the slow crawl of her other novels toward the big screen. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Roger Lloyd Pack  Actor 
Jeanette Kontomitras  Actor 
Juliet Taylor  Actor 
Susan Lynch  Actor 
Marcel Iures  Actor 
Katia Caballero  Actor 
Monte Montague  Actor 
Andrew Tiernan  Actor 
Helen McCrory  Actor 
John "Spud" McConnell  Actor 
Sarah Stockbridge  Actor 
Micha Bergese  Actor 
George Kelly  Actor 
Lyla Kay Owen  Actor 
Bellina Logan  Actor 
Miranda Richardson  Actor 
Susie Figgis  Actor 
Michael Cristofer  Screenwriter 
George Fenton  Composer (Music Score) 
David Geffen  Producer 
Elliot Goldenthal  Composer (Music Score) 
Neil Jordan  Director 
Neil Jordan  Screenwriter 
Stephen Woolley  Producer 
Anne Rice  Screenwriter 
Tom Cruise  Actor 
Brad Pitt  Actor 
Antonio Banderas  Actor 
Stephen Rea  Actor 
Christian Slater  Actor 
Kirsten Dunst  Actor 
Domiziana Giordano  Actor 
Thandie Newton  Actor 
Indra Ové  Actor 
Laure Marsac  Actor 

Country: USA