The best vampire film of all time?

Rating: Null/10 (25 February 1999)

Surprisingly close to the book, the faults the film has are those of the book. We might ask for example how come the vampires appear not to notice the first or second world wars even though they are in Europe at the time.
Louis' hair is also a curiosity - a man simply could not walk round in early twentieth century Europe with long hair in a pony tale and not be stared at at the very least. Since a vampire presumably wants to be inconspicuous this is a problem.
There is an obvious homoerotic charge between Louis and Lestat and Louis and Armand, but this is even more marked in the book, and I understand it was reduced in the film to protect the sensibilities of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Brad Pitt's flat delivery is ideal for the world-weary Louis, though I do think it a pity Anne Rice's suggestion that he should play Lestat was not taken up.
I already knew Brad could act, having seen Kalifornia. This film convinced me that Tom Cruise really was an actor, not just a pretty boy trading on his face. But the honours have to go to Kirsten Dunst as Claudia, an utterly believable child vampire.