Not entirely faithful to the book, but good nonetheless

Rating: 8/10 (28 November 2004)

I enjoy this film although I'm a bigger fan of the book than the movie. This film follows the book in spirit, but misses many of the finer points of the book that made it fascinating. We never learn _why_ Lestat picks Louis as his first vampire "child". We never learn about Louis' relationship with the neighbors, etc. What the film misses in fine details from the book it makes up for in style. Tom Cruise is not the Lestat from the book, but his Lestat is perfect for the film. Brad Pitt's Louis is perfect, and Kirstin Dunst's Claudia is straight out of the book- creepy! Antonio Banderas' Armand is 20 years too old, so that's a wash. The subtitle of this movie is "The Vampire Chronicles". If only they really made more films!!! Three out of four stars.