I didn't think it was anything special.

Rating: 5/10 (11 November 2006)

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles starts in San Francisco where journalist Daniel Malloy (Christian Slater) is approached by a centuries old Vampire named Louis (Brad Pitt) to record, document & publish his life story. Louis begins in 1791 when his wife died & he too longed for death until he met a charismatic Vampire named Lestat (Tom Cruise) who turned him into a Vampire, Louis continues through the years & describes his experiences that include murder, betrayal, revenge, loneliness & love....
Directed by Neil Jordan I have read plenty of positive comments & reviews on Inteview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles & maybe I'm missing something or perhaps I just watched it at the wrong time from my point of view but personally I honestly didn't think it was anything special. The script by Anne Rice based on her own novel of the same name is a bit ponderous, a little pedestrian & in my opinion lacked a strong central story. The film tells the story of Louis the Vampire, fine but it's a rather lethargic & dull story. It's a bit episodic & bitty, characters come & go a bit too easily & I couldn't get into it. The story & the way it's told didn't hold my interest, it never engaged me or made me want more & I disliked the lazy nothing ending. The character's themselves aren't that great & the dialogue tedious. Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly well written & if you like these life-story type films then I'd imagine you would love it but it's not really my cup of tea.
Director Jordan does a fine job, the production design is fantastic, the period sets, locations, costumes & props are top drawer although the tens of millions spent on it probably helped... There's no real scares in it as it goes for realistic brutal violence, this is a story driven horror film for the intellectuals who look down upon us horror fans & consider horror only just above porn. There's some good gore in it, Tom Cruise gets his throat slit in graphic detail, there's plenty of wrist slitting, neck biting, blood drinking, a decapitation & a cool bit where someone is sliced in half with a scythe.
With a supposed budget of about $50,000,000 Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles has the top notch production values that you would expect a big budget Hollywood film to have. Despite it's very impressive cast list I didn't think the acting was that great & no one stood out for me except a young Kirsten Dunst who I thought was highly annoying & bratty as Claudia.
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles is an OK film, it's got some decent gore & it's very nice to look at but I thought it lacked a strong central story & didn't particularly entertain me. Followed by the absolutely awful Queen of the Damned (2002).