Queen of the Damned

Plot synopsis:
The vampire Lestat is awakened from decades of slumber by the sound of a heavy metal band which he proceeds to take over as the lead singer. Achieving international success and planning a massive live concert, Lestat is approached by Marius, and warned that the vampires of the world will not tolerate his flamboyant public profile.
Jesse Reeves, a researcher for the paranormal studies group Talamasca, is intrigued by Lestat's lyrics and tells the rest of the group her theory that he really is a vampire. Her mentor, David Talbot, takes her aside and tells her they know he is and that a vampire called Marius made him. He also shows her Lestat's journal that he recovered and is now in the Talamasca library. In a flashback to his origins, Lestat recalls how he awoke Akasha, the first vampire, with his music. Jesse tracks him down to a London vampire club where he saves and confronts her. She later goes to Los Angeles for the concert and gives him back his journal. The two spend some time together and Lestat shows her both the horrors and the perks of being a vampire. Showing him that she's not scared of him Jesse stays with Lestat as she sees how lonely and miserable he is. She asks him to turn her as she reveals that it's her dream to be a vampire, but he refuses as he won't turn her into one. Meanwhile, Akasha is awakened by Lestat's new music. She arrives and torches the club, and all the vampires inside, who want Lestat dead.
At the concert in Death Valley, a mob of vampires attack Lestat and Marius. Akasha bursts through the stage and takes Lestat with her as her new King. The two vampires then proceed to have sex in Akasha's home and mutually feed on one another, during which time Lestat becomes spellbound by Akasha and is forced to obey her. Empowered by Akasha's blood, Lestat and the Queen confront the Ancient Vampires at the home of Maharet, Jesse's aunt, who is an Ancient Vampire. The Ancient Vampires were planning to kill Akasha, to save the human world from demise. Akasha then commands Lestat to kill Jesse, as The Queen sees her both as an enemy and as food, as she is Maharet's mortal niece; Maharet and Akasha became mortal enemies before they were turned. Queen Akasha also wanted to make an example out of Jesse because Jesse dared to stand-up to her and to put fear into the other vampires. Lestat ostensibly obeys the Queen, but afterwards he quickly comes to his senses and is released from her power. He then very angrily turns and begins to drain Akasha's blood with the help of the Ancients. Mael and Pandora are killed by Akasha's power. Armand is almost killed, but is saved as The Queen's powers diminish. Maharet is the last to drink Akasha's blood, and thereby ends up becoming a marble "statue". Maharet then becomes the new Queen Of the Damned.
Lestat then turns and walks to where Jesse is lying lifeless, and cradling her in his arms, gives her his blood, turning her into a vampire. Jesse, now a vampire, and Lestat then return the journal to the Talamasca, and walk away, among mortals, into the night. As they exit it is shown that they are now a couple and hold hands while Marius enters the Talamasca. The film closes with a scene of David reading the journal as Marius's voice catches his attention, cheerfully saying, "Hello, David".

Tags: paranormal, revenge, gothic, murder, flashback

Review:
As a fan of the novels and the movie Interview with a Vampire, I spent a good half hour yelling at the screen before realizing the following:1.
It as if someone picked up a copy of The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned, opened to random pages, made assumptions, got bored and stopped reading, then wrote a screenplay.3.
Pride yourself if you can provide any explanation for what happens at the end of the movie, because "trimming to help the pace" leaves the ending fairly incomprehensible, especially to those who have read the books.Be sure to watch the extra features, the gag reel for laughs and the deleted scenes if you want to know what happened in the movie.
This has to be one of the worst adaptations I have ever seen.For those who have not read the book and/or are not Anne Rice fans: if you really want to see it, don't expect much from the script or from Aaliyah's acting.
First of all it's based on half the story (the book before it in the series "The Vampire Lestat" ended with the beginning of "Queen of the Damned") They left out main characters, omitted the histories, and even changed how Lestat became a vampire, what was left out of "Interview With The Vampire" felt like they just needed to fit into some time constraints, what they did with "Queen of the Damned" was a hack and slash job.
An adaptation of the Anne Rice novel and a follow up to 1994's well-remembered INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, QUEEN OF THE DAMNED updates the action to the present and recreates the vampire Lestat as a rock star.
They changed so much of the story that they will be unable to make any of the other books into movies without changing them completely also or remaking this one.They totally trivalized the debate between Akasha and her 'children'.Marius (who did not make Lestat btw) in the chronicles is the great reasoner of the Vampires.
Combining The Vampire Lestat and the Queen of the Damned novels into one screenplay was, ahem, damned to suffer massive story cuts because of the intricate and detailed background of a dozen or so characters involved.
The amount of detail always was the strength of the Vampire Chronicles, in my opinion, and they were certainly worth the read.That said, the question remains, without the detail and extra characters, can the basic story of Lestat's re-awakening of the Queen of all vampires be entertaining and sufficient enough to sustain itself?
Like Jessie, they were given some explanation, but I think a couple more lines of dialogue would have helped.As I mentioned, the movie did a decent job of the basic story, but massive changes were made from the source material.
The character of Akasha was also as I pictured and a very good casting choice.If you are a fan of the books, and you need the twins, Gabriel, Magnus, and crew, you are going to have difficulty sitting through this.
This is why I gave it 2.If you've read the book by Anne Rice, and preferably the trilogy(Interview with a Vampire, Vampire Lestat and Queen of the damned), you will probably get sick by watching this movie.
It is a complete butchering of Anne Rice's masterpiece novel "The Queen of the Damned" which you should read if you haven't already because once you read this book you will realize how bad the movie truly is.
They're <i>vampires</i>!" lik they hadn't mentioned that in the trailer.)The saving grace of this movie: Stuart Townsend, who has his godawful moments, but is mostly quite good, and very pretty.I bought this DVD used for $6 and my friends and I put it on at parties.
I really love Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and Queen of the Damned is one of the best in the series.
A pity Anne Rice sold the rights to Miramax, and I'm also sorry for Stuart Townsend who does his job as Lestat quite good (well, obviously he was the victim of a very very bad director!) If you liked INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, you won'T like this!
Though, I went with a good friend of mine who is also a big fan of the books, and even he had trouble trying to figure out who was supposed to be who because the characters we so drastically different from what they were supposed to look like.
Die hard Ann Rice fans might not like this movie because it slams two books (The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned) into one to make a relatively short film.
I mean, come on, Interview With the Vampire was over two hours long, and it was the movie version of just one book.However, taken as it's own story, the movie is actually very good.
(Another one that is good-looking, ladies.)Akasha, unfortunately, displays very few emotions, so Aaliyah didn't get a chance to really showcase her acting talents in her final performance, but she did play the evil vampire convincingly.
The vampire Lestat (Stuart Townsend), bored with a world that no longer excites him, has been `asleep' for many years; but suddenly, the sounds of that world he hears from his extended slumber change, and liking what he hears, he ventures forth to investigate.
Make no mistake, this is Lestat's story, and Rymer presents it amid a setting rich with atmosphere and with some exquisite moments, though his film has less bite to it than say, `Interview With the Vampire,' or `Bram Stoker's Dracula.'  He sets a good pace, and there are some scenes that provide some real thrills, but overall the film isn't as soaked in menace as it could be, or as much as one might expect.
With a much stronger story than the usual offerings of this particular genre, Anne Rice fans, especially, will be pleased with `Queen of the Damned,' a film nicely crafted and delivered by director Rymer and his engaging cast.
It seems as though they set out to make this movie a total slap in theface to Anne Rice and every self respecting Vampire Chronicles fan.
Tom Cruise is dyslexic and still he made a point to read the books and know and love Lestat.Don't kid yourselves, it is not a "Stand Alone" vampire flick it's trash plain and simple..
This approach mightn't be all that bad, if only Queen Of The Damned didn't do it all in such a lame and predictable manner.Stuart Townsend takes over the character of Lestat from Tom Cruise and delivers a weak central performance lacking the star power and charisma vital for the role; his pale boyish looks would certainly not earn him the respect of hardcore nu-metal fans.
As ineffectual as Townsend's turn as Lestat is, however, it is nowhere near the worst thing about the film: the pacing is dreadfully slow, the dialogue is dreary, the direction lacks the sumptuous detail and elegance that Neil Jordan gave Interview, and the less said about Aaliyah's awful performance as Akasha the better (suffice to say that even the way she walked annoyed the hell out of me)..
interview with a vampire was so amazing good, this movie just really came out of left field.i do like Stuart Townsend as lestat, i think he is very much the brat prince.
and a TV series would have been wayy better than vampire diaries or true blood imo.this movie is for 16yr old girls that like music, vamps, cute boys with no shirts, and sexy dominatrix women.
Marius' character looks like he walked out of a 50's vampire B movie.
Being a fan of Ms. Rice's novels, my first thought was "how can they do Queen Of The Damned without doing Vampire Lestat first?"Having finally seen the movie, now I can see how they did it.
If you have read these books, imagine taking out the gory parts from Vampire Lestat, cramming Marcus and Marius into one character, and removing everything to do with Lestat's beginning (the wolf hunt, his violin playing, the Theatre Of The Vampires, and also Louis, Claudia, and Gabrielle), then in the last 15 minutes cramming in Queen Of The Damned.What we loose is a very important piece of Lestat's character.
Most of the acting was poor, the accents drove me up the wall, and all of the really in-depth parts of the book were removed, leaving us only with a hollow shell, kind of like Enkil after he was sucked dry.If you want to see a good modern vampire movie, get Lost Boys, the original Interview With A Vampire, or even some old episodes of Dark Shadows.
Despite a few acceptable adaptations of the books' main themes, QUEEN OF THE DAMNED/THE VAMPIRE LESTAT did not stay true to Anne Rices's complicated story telling.
It also lacks the emotional intelligence of THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS, which is a shame because Rice's Queen of the Damned book had that, and more.This movie doesn't give all that it appears to be.
There are only a few areas of incoherence near the beginning and middle of the movie, but it wraps itself up fairly neatly, giving the viewer a full story (if they had not read the book).Somethings that I feel the movie needed include a good original score (Howard Shore or Elmer Bernstein), instead of the mix of rock music; though I had no problem with some of the songs.
I'd recommend this movie for people who has seen INTERVIEW or have read the books, so that they can make their own opinion on the adaption..
This film tried to be an adaptation of two Anne Rice's books that portrayed the life of Lestat, the vampire.
In fact, it's the worst vampire movies I've ever seen, sacrificing the dramatic and psychological depth of the characters in favor of a pop-rock approach of the vampire world, which seems to have been thought to sell the film to the teen audiences and not to make it better.Directed by Michael Rymer, this film has an unfortunate and shameful script by Scott Abbott and stars the singer Aaliyah (deceased shortly after the shootings) and Stuart Townsend in the lead roles.
Claudia Black was alright as Pandora but the Australian actor who played Armand was totally wrong for the part.Stuart Townsend was a disaster, I don't understand where they found him cause he looked like he was acting in a totally different movie.
She was angry that Tom Cruise played Lestat but at least he did a good job in a wonderful movie but this movie should have given her a heart attack cause they haven't been true to her books.They only good things about the movie is the Music (Jonathan Davis rules), the Score written by Jonathan and Richard Gibbs and Lena Olin's performance, the rest is crap!!!Stay away from this one!!!!.
Maybe it is a low quality movie, but I like it!Maybe it doesn't follow the Anne Rice book, but I like it!I feel that one misses out on a great thing by NOT watching this movie (if you like Vampires that is) another thing is the soundtrack/score to it.
But when I watched it I was pleasantly surprised.The film was wonderful.Not just goths or vampire and horror/thriller fans will be able to appreciate the movie.It has something for all of us.Its not just blood and gore, although it has some of that.It has a story for one.Also,it speaks of loneliness, what some of us will do to overcome it and what it means to be truly alone...and I think all of us can understand that sentiment..
To release it as this "tragedy", well.The origin of Lestat is completely wrong (as any Anne Rice fan will tell you.)The back story of Akasha and Maharet was completely neglected.
And just where the hell was Louis???Aaliyah was surprising as Akasha, although I still believe someone unknown should have played the role; much goes the some for all of the characters.Jesse however was not turned into a vampire by Lestat, but by her Aunt Maharet after having her neck broken at the concert during a crowd crush.And they completely forgot that Maharet had a twin - Miriam - but that should have been covered in the "back story".If they were to make a decent adaptation for this book as a movie, it would be close to four hours long, if not over.
So I can see why they cut a majority of the story for a two hour movie.I just hope that some day, that Anne Rice's "The Vampire Chronicles" will be remade as it should be - a mini-series for each novel.
I have never really read the Anne Rice books b4, but I loved da movie.
This movie has nothing to do with the book and is filled with so many inconsistancies that it will drive anyone who read the novel insane!They throw a bunch of vampires in the movie but nobody knows who the hell they are, and since when was the queen of the damned black?
But I guess it would be a little weird to see Tom Cruise play a rock star...I think that Queen of the Damned was a movie that would have been better unmade..
It works like this:If you've read the books, don't watch the movie.
"Vampire Lestat" and "Queen of the Damned" can be split into at least three movies - the creators had to choose something.Some of the special effects, like the flying or walking out of the flames were the only thing I actually didn't like in this movie.
And of course Aaliyah was perfect with her quasi-ancient-Egyptian accent.So if you are into gothic music and vampiric dillemas of loneliness and eternity (and you don't consider books to be movie scenarios) "Queen of the Damned" is one of the few movies which show vampires as something more than blood sucking monsters.
Stuart Townsend was a wonderful Lestat and was much like I would have preferred to see in Interview with the Vampire.
"Queen of the Damned" is one of the best vampire movies ever made.
Queen of the Damned Congratulations too everybody who worked to produces and act in this movie,it is fantastic and definitely 1 of the best about vampires.
The acting, special effects and the music are more than 10(exellent).If you dissociate the fact that this is a horror movie and the actors are vampires this is the most beautiful love story I have ever seen.
my favorite actor in the movie was Stuart Townsend, he did a terrific job with the character Lestat.
I am a fan of vampire movies an also of Aaliyah's work so for me it was a good combination.
The movie focuses on Lestat (Stuart Townsend) a vampire lured into the whole new rock scene.
First of all,Queen Of The Damned and Vampire Lestat combination already sounded awry, it's completely hard to adapt that part of the chronicles.
I mean, this story even featured a scrawny, effeminate blood-sucker named Lestat who (get this!) posed as a darling, little "Romeo" and a no-talent pop-music idol.And, believe me, this snivelling twinkie's stage presence, the songs that he sang, and the band who backed him up, all made me totally cringe with absolute revulsion like I never thought possible.All-in-all - This was yet another one of those boring, predictable, and easily-forgettable vampire movies that clearly tried to pass itself off as being so cool and hip - But, in reality, it was just pure vampire-asininity, on all counts.....
This is pathetic.To begin with I'm surprised that Anne Rice didn't sue what ever jackass made this bad movie and claimed that it was based on the book with the same name (sorry, couldn't stop myself there).Well, I'd say it's rather obvious that i dislike this movie...allot, but I think you will come to understand why after reading this text.Basically the movie is about our all time favourite vampire Lestat who, after a couple of decades of sleep, wakes up in a world pretty different from what he used to know.
But for the time given to the films makers it was really well done.I loved this film and would see it again and recommend it to everyone who likes vampire movies.
My friend who went with me who has never read an Anne Rice book, but who is very into vampire movies like Blade, loved it..
I thought Stuart Townsend did an excellent job in his role as Lestat, washing away the distaste I had for Cruise in that role.I know a lot of hardcore Rice fans detested the movie and that's their opinion and this is mine.
"Queen of the Damned" is one of the best vampire movies I had ever seen!
This is the MOVIE Queen of the Damned not the BOOK.
At the beginning it says that the movie is based off of the Vampire Chronicles, not Queen of the Damned.
I thought Stuart Townsend was a great Lestat and Aaliyah was amazing.
first to Anne rice BOOK fans....sure lestat's eyes are not blue...sure he isn't blond in this movie...
If you like dark movies about vampires this is definitely for you or even if you don't there is a love story to this.But,all I can say is one word: Amazing!
if you have read the book before the film then your bound to be a bit confused, but then you realise its a cross between the books Queen of the Damned and The Vampire Lestat.
I thought that Queen Of The Damned was one of the best vampire movies to come out in a very long time, and I still haven't seen anything that comes close!
I am a huge Anne Rice fan, and whenever her books are turned into movies, I always look forward to seeing them in the theater.