Peculiar, Bloody Horror

Rating: 5/10 (16 October 2016)

I'm always down for a horror film that switches up the conventional tropes of the genre. Interview with the Vampire certainly does that, but it also fails to capture one's undivided attention for a full 2 hours.
Coming out in 1994, this was the very beginnings of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt's rise to fame, and that plays into a lot of the fun with the film. Cruise plays a seasoned vampire, Lestat, who seeks out a partner in crime, Brad Pitt, to be the next vampire along his side. Pitt had dealt with plenty of loss in his life and so a step away from his normal life and into the immortal life isn't the worst thing. But Lestat's harsher ways of living prove to be too much for Pitt's 'Louis' character. And there you have much of the first half of the film.
It's pretty weird watching these established actors back when they were obviously taking on more risky roles such as these. I can't see either of the two taking on a vampire film now, so I guess that adds to the uniqueness of this film. There's plenty of bloody fun to be had with the film. There aren't a ton of scares, which is disappointing, but there's no shortage of obscure Cruise monologues and slasher twists.
With that said, the film takes an unexpected turn about half way through, and the rest of the story falls of the rails because of it. So much so that the first and second hour feel like completely different stories. Mixed in you get a touching arc about Louis taking in a young Kirsten Dunst, who is surprisingly great (at only 12 years of age), but it's not enough to overcome a really weak second half.
To me, the film is at its best when it explores the dynamic between Louis and Lestat, and lets Cruise and Pitt go crazy with dialogue and peculiar actions. Once we dive deep into why there are vampires and Antonio Banderas' character, the film falls flat.
+Cruise & Pitt playing strange/creepy vampires
+Bloody fun first half
-Flat second half
5.8/10