The major problem lies with Rice's own script, which is dramatically repetitive and philosophically banal.
Comment
02/09/06
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
60
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:45
Fresh:27
Rotten:18
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: Despite lacking some of the book's subtler shadings, and suffering from some clumsy casting, Interview with a Vampire benefits from Neil Jordan's atmospheric direction and a surfeit of gothic thrills.
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: Horror author Anne Rice penned the screenplay for this full-blooded adaptation of her novel, which chronicles the life of 18th-century nobleman Louis (Brad Pitt) after he is bitten by powerful,... [More]
Starring: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst, Antonio Banderas
Director: Neil Jordan
Reviews for Interview with the Vampire
Top CriticJordan tries hard to inject some sort of Gothic sensibility into the film's early sequences, but it isn't until the third act, when the film enters the marvellously atmospheric world of the Thibtre des Vampires, that he really draws blood.
08/24/08
Top CriticGiven that this is basically a Reader's Digest condensed version, the movie does a pretty good sweep job.
10/23/06
It's about seduction, and either you succumb to its inky entrapments or you resist. When its mojo was working, I was happy to be had.
10/18/08
A well-made yet failed film that could give real pleasure only to those who prefer form over content.
08/05/02
When Interview with the Vampire works, it's as compelling and engrossing a piece of entertainment as is available on film today. When it falters, the weaknesses seem magnified.
01/01/00
Cruise will surprise Anne Rice fans as he did the author herself.
01/01/00
A night stalker yearns to maintain his human emotions of love, grief and guilt.
03/13/02
Why would Tom Cruise be playing Lestat, a gaunt, suave European vampire with a taste for young men? Because a big movie star can do whatever he wants.
08/24/08
Top CriticA borderline effort.
01/11/04
My complaint about the film is that not very much happens, in the plot sense.
01/01/00
Top CriticThe movie may well make money, but no matter how many zillions it grosses, Tom Cruise will forever after be something of a joke.
01/09/02
Jordan is a master of poetic, deceptive atmosphere.
09/24/07
Outfitted in prosthetic fangs, translucent white makeup and a long, frizzy wig that makes him look like Tiny Tim, Cruise brings tremendous exuberance -- if not a lot of insight or nuance -- to the role of the vampire.
01/01/00
It's an intensely dark tale -- the cinematography, the tone, the dialogue -- but for those who enjoy dark humor, Jordan has brilliantly inserted a few divine moments of comic relief.
05/20/03
Whatever one's preconceived notions might have been about Cruise as Lestat, he is very powerful in the role and literally takes charge every time he's on the screen.
01/01/00
The film is all mood, but little drama.
01/01/00
Passionately anticipated and much ballyhooed, the film, alas, is little more than a foppish, fang de siecle costume drama. Its pulse barely registers.
01/01/00
Neil Jordan seems to make one good film after another on the theme of the sub-culture of people who live outside normal society. As his films go, this is not one of his best efforts.
01/01/00
Anne Rice was right the first time around when she criticized Tom Cruise's casting in public, and Brad Pitt is not great either but like every Jordan's film, this problematic adaptation has some merits such as child actress Dunst and some arresting images
04/03/07
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