#that vampire movie with young Tom cruise and Brad Pitt

[quercus-queer]

The gays have three genres: Pirates, Cowboys, or Immortals

[vvalliu]

Interview with the Vampire - 1994

[the-vampire-queer]

The Vampires Digital Media Poll: Round 2, Bracket 1

Creator's note: I recommend taking extreme caution as you vote for this one. It is easy to accidentally confuse these two, so be careful when choosing.

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Results get posted on December 20th. at 5PM CST.

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What is Interview with the Vampire (1994) about?

Summary: "Born as an 18th-century lord, Louis is now a bicentennial vampire, telling his story to an eager biographer. Suicidal after the death of his family, he meets Lestat, a vampire who persuades him to choose immortality over death and become his companion. Eventually, gentle Louis resolves to leave his violent maker, but Lestat guilts him into staying by turning a young girl -- whose addition to the "family" breeds even more conflict." Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Source: Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Cast:

Brad Pitt - Louis de Pointe du Lac

Tom Cruise - Lestat de Lioncourt

Kirsten Dunst - Claudia

Christian Slater - Daniel Molloy

Antonio Banderas - Armand

Note: Cast lists provided here are not complete lists of people and characters featured in the media being listed. These are partial lists that include some of the main characters and their actors.

Additional information: This movie is based on the Anne Rice novel of the same name. Anne Rice was an author who wrote 13 books for her book series The Vampire Chronicles, which starts with the book, The Interview with the Vampire. In 2022, a tv show of the same name was created, also based on the book(s).

What is Interview with the Vampire (2022) about?

Summary: "In the year 2022, the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac lives in Dubai and seeks to tell the story of his life or afterlife to renowned journalist Daniel Molloy. Beginning in early 20th-century New Orleans, Louis' story follows his relationship with the vampire Lestat [de] Lioncourt and their formed family, including teen fledgling Claudia. Together, the vampire family endures immortality in New Orleans and beyond. As the interview continues in Dubai, Molloy discovers the truths beneath Louis' story." Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Note: Rotten Tomatoes incorrectly labels Lestat de Lioncourt as "Lestat du Lioncourt". This is corrected by me via brackets.

Source: Interview with the Vampire (2022)

Cast:

Jacob Anderson - Louis de Pointe du Lac

Sam Reid - Lestat de Lioncourt

Bailey Bass - Claudia (will be replaced by Delainey Hayles in the next season)

Eric Bogosian - Daniel Molloy

Assad Zaman - Armand

Note: Cast lists provided here are not complete lists of people and characters featured in the media being listed. These are partial lists that include some of the main characters and their actors.

Additional information: This tv show is based on the Anne Rice novel of the same name. Anne Rice was an author who wrote 13 books for her book series The Vampire Chronicles, which starts with the book, The Interview with the Vampire. Previously, in 1994, a movie of the same name was created, also based on the book(s).

[starvinbohemian]

Have you seen the new interview with the vampire show?

I have seen exactly one episode. And for no other reason than because I have a crazy relationship with Anne Rice, having been completely re-shaped as a person when I first discovered her books as a (too young) kid, and because I was afraid to start the show and hate it. I have read so much Anne Rice, but this one-- this one, my beloved Interview-- was the first, the gateway and possibly the most formative thing I've read in my whole life. I felt certain the show would be bad. I knew from watching past interviews that Christopher Rice was excited to adapt The Vampire Lestat with his mother, but then Anne died, and it seemed to me that this latest adaptation was wrestled away from him and made into another Interview adaptation that he seemed to feel was unnecessary. And maybe it was taken from him? I have no idea, because I haven't looked into it at all. I see he's credited as an executive producer on this show, but that's a ceremonial title in most cases, so who knows? Besides, the '90s movie with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise is, in my opinion, as good an adaptation as one could hope for (minus a better casting for Armand). Why did we need another adaptation?

Anyway, it took me an extra minute, because early pictures of Louis in a hoodie made me want to set myself on fire. Whatever else she might have thought of this show, Anne is definitely rolling over in her grave over that one. My boy would never. But something else I'm positive of is that Anne would have LOVED Sam Reid's Lestat. I'm honestly shocked by how perfect this casting was. I didn't think anyone could do a convincing Lestat performance. The character is... a lot lol. I admit to loving Tom Cruise's Lestat, but I think it's safe to say that he was never Anne's Lestat. I believe with everything in me that Sam Reid would have been Anne's Lestat. Perfection. (We're not gonna talk about Stuart Townsend's Lestat.)

So, my thoughts:

I'm still kinda wrapping my head around some of the changes from the book. Why are we in Dubai? They made my boy a pimp??? But I can see why, in the year of our lord 2023, it would be awkward to try to sell a protagonist that used to be a plantation slave owner. So, I get it. Moving on.

The melodrama. The big, sweeping musical score. Louis’ pretentious, occasionally ridiculous voice-over narration. Perfect reflection of the book’s tone. 

Speaking of melodrama... Lestat and Louis’ bad romance. Oh, boy. I know the showrunner really gets these two, because in the after-show interview, he said that what Louis called “being hunted” by Lestat, Lestat would call “courting” Louis. Yup. That’s them. 

And the STEAM. I did not expect them to go so hard with the erotic aspect of their relationship. I guess, after so many adaptations either dancing around it (lookin’ at you, ‘99) or outright ignoring/subverting it (lookin’ at you, Queen of the Damned), I wasn’t expecting to see Louis and Lestat straight-up devouring each other in a levitating sex scene one episode in. Although, Lestat declaring his love and immediately demanding all of Louis’ attention-- even during his brother’s funeral-- one episode in is very him. They got married, bathed in blood, at a church alter, surrounded by the corpses of priests Lestat had just brutally murdered-- not two minutes after Louis had been desperately begging said priests to save him from Lestat. The drama! The macabre! The most Anne Rice thing I’ve ever seen! Even Louis being annoying and mentally voicing over Lestat’s dramatic “let me turn you so we can be together forever” speech at its titular moment so I can’t actually hear it is pretty Anne Rice (and pretty Louis).

All of this happens one episode in. And to that, I say... Brava, show! That level of extra is exactly Lestat and Louis. (I love them.)

Also, this is a really interesting take on Daniel Molloy. My first instinct was rebellion-- where is my strung-out little twink reporter??? Armand's neurotic boy toy? But I think I love this older, jaded version of Daniel. I love that the first interview is still canon, but that Daniel botched it so bad that he had to wait decades for another shot. Moving the (second) interview to later in Daniel's life makes for a different Louis/Daniel dynamic, and I'm excited to see more of it. Daniel's bitter, but he's also still completely ensnared, and I'm here for it. I also appreciate that Daniel pointed out that there were inconsistencies and deflections in Louis' story the first time around, since that fits with the revelation in subsequent books that Louis wasn't exactly being 100% in his account. And it's just so Louis that he had to take a forty-nine-year pout before returning. (I love him.)

And crazy, religious brother Paul is here! Still crazy and religious! He finally made it into an adaptation. Good for him.

And ahhhh stealth Nicki reference! Lestat’s crazy violin-playing ex. I won’t hold my breath, but I hope we actually get to see him in a flashback. Paul made it into the show, so why not Nicki?

But I’ve gotta say that the biggest shock for me was Louis and Paul tap dancing. Louis... and Paul tap dancing? Anne, can you believe this?

A final shout-out to these lines:

Lestat, trying to convince Louis, future thorn in his side, to become a vampire: “I can take away that sorrow.” Hahahaha. Oh, Lestat. You have no idea how wrong you are. As if Louis would ever let you do that. Pain is his favorite.

“You’re his destiny, Louis!” Hahahahaha. You have noooo ideeeea.

So, I'm probably going to keep watching. I hope Louis sets something on fire soon! 

[i-want-my-iwtv]

How do feel about the casting for the IWAV show coming out? I know there is much more to the vampire chronicles than just aesthetics but I don't really see Sam Reid as Lestat and while Jacob Anderson is cute and was excellent on GOT, I don't get any ethereal vampire vibes from him at all. Am I just being picky since young Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were like god-tier good looking?

Your question could be bait, and I’m resistant to answer it, because people can twist my words into any strawman argument of their choosing. In the spirit of Lestat driving headfirst into danger, let’s try anyway. Maybe you’re a troll, but I know there’s someone out there who might be helped by my response on this.

First, though:

Re: you being picky, you have a right to like what you like/not like.

If you thought Anderson was excellent on GOT, but not giving you “ethereal vampire vibes,” well, I didn’t watch GOT but I assume he was mostly likely not trying to be an ethereal vampire in GOT. If he’s as excellent as you said, maybe he'll surprise you, Anon.

As far as Sam Reid not really looking like Lestat for you, I have seen plenty of people excited about him in this role, in detailed posts. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and if you’re not into Reid’s Lestat, that’s up to you, Anon, and you don’t need anyone to validate your opinion. However, Anne Rice was initially VERY against Tom Cruise’s casting as Lestat, and she changed her mind. More on that under the cut. So maybe Reid will change your mind!

All that aside, there’s a double-standard with this upcoming TV show as compared to other film adaptations (the 1994 IWTV film, the 2002 QOTD film). With the other adaptations, we’re free to praise/criticize any of the casting decisions, the actors, the storylines, anything at all! We can criticize canon. Totally fine, I don’t care if you liked something I didn’t like, or vice-versa. I don’t believe that enjoying a book/movie/TV series is promoting the entirety of its content, or lack of promoting something is somehow silencing other people’s enjoyment of that media. Watching TV can be your own personal experience, I can tell you that before the internet, that’s how it was. And participating in internet discussions about it is an entirely optional experience. 

Currently, there’s only one opinion we’re allowed to have about the AMC IWTV TV series, which is 100% pure unconditional positive support. 

I am 100% purely and unconditionally supportive of the show, as categorized as AU fanfiction, which I don’t consider any kind of reduction in rank or status. I co-wrote a VC coffeeshop AU fanfiction set in modern times that I still look back on very fondly, more than my canon-set fanfiction. I still get comments and kudos on it years later! I’m going to enjoy watching the IWTV TV show with my friends, because we’re watching it through a lens of curiosity. It’s not trying to be the canon story, it’s one of many transformative works. It just so happens to be officially sponsored. But it doesn’t change one word of canon, it doesn’t tack onto any other adaptation, it’s entirely its own living creature.

So when people argue about the casting for the IWTV TV series, I think the underlying argument is actually: whether this adaptation is better than the canon story or not. It’s your opinion whether it’s better/worse (for lack of a better word)/equal in value, but I think it’s a wholly different entity than the canon story, so I’m not interested in comparing them, at least not until it comes out and we have actual performances and plot points to talk about. 

Movie!QOTD and movie!IWTV were also fanfiction of a sort, things were changed in those films that made them no longer the canon story (Louis’ brother’s death became Louis’ wife died in childbirth; Magnus and Marius were hybridized into one character, etc.), and for some people, those adaptations are better/worse/equal in value to canon. There are also opinions about how some elements of those adaptations are better than canon, and some elements are not. 

What we are still allowed to discuss/mention:

Anne Rice initially disapproved of Tom Cruise’s casting as Lestat, and later changed her mind after she saw the film.* (after the cut)

I’ve seen people post that they can’t stand Tom Cruise, except as Lestat, and they often seem ashamed to admit this.

I’ve seen people still dislike Cruise’s Lestat for his acting/appearance/being too short.

I’ve seen people who don’t think Brad Pitt looked enough like the canon character. One critic from the time of the movie’s release said that Pitt had “simian features,” and well... that’s not a compliment. 

People still dislike Antonio Banderas’ Armand as being too old and having a cheap wig. I have discussion about him in my #Defending Antonio tag. I enjoyed him as Armand, I don’t care that a lot of people disliked or even hated him in that role. It doesn’t take away that I enjoyed him. 

People disliking Stuart Townsend for having brown hair in the '02 Queen of the Damned movie, when being blond was such a big part of Lestat's appearance, canonically: “What would Christ need have done to make me follow Him like Matthew or Peter? Dress well, to begin with. And have a luxurious head of pampered yellow hair.” - IWTV.

It doesn't make Townsend any less of Lestat for the people who found him attractive and enjoyed his performance. Anyone can enjoy him, Cruise, and/or Reid, etc., or none of them!

So in considering this casting, all I really want to say is that these are just 2 more added to the list of actors who have portrayed VC characters and I’m curious to see what they do. 

---

*You might not know/remember this, but Tom Cruise changed Anne Rice’s mind in a similar way: 

Cruise "is no more my Vampire Lestat than Edward G. Robinson is Rhett Butler," Rice told the Los Angeles Times back in 1993 when the lavish production being directed by Neil Jordan got underway, with executive producer David Geffen playing peacemaker between the disgruntled author and the leading man everyone else was excited about.

Obviously the show went on, Cruise approached the role of Lestat with the intensity he's known for bringing to every set he walked onto,...

"Oh, the choice [of Cruise for Lestat] is just so bizarre...

As it was, "it's almost impossible to imagine how it's going to work," she added, "and it's really almost impossible to imagine how Neil and David and Tom could have come up with it. I have one question: Does Tom Cruise have any idea of what he's getting into?"

...And in the end, [Cruise] turned Rice—and, according to the author, he turned all the readers who were initially outraged just as she was.

"I think Tom did a wonderful job, I really do," she acknowledged in a 1994 interview. "I too was shocked in the beginning and I was very much against it, but Tom Cruise really did read the books, I think, and he got the essence of Lestat. He got Lestat's power and his charisma and his charm. He got all of that across in the movie. He had great skill in that performance, I think, and great power."

Rice noted that the only problem was that Cruise was too damn charming. "Since he isn't all that nasty, why does Louis hate Lestat? How can he?" she also mused in 1994. "Well, I'll take that problem any day over a more shallow solution. Tom his the right note. And Louis was Louis. Nothing could comfort Louis. The film got it."[X]

[cinematicct]

Interview with the Vampire (1994)

🧛‍♂️

Based on the Gothic horror novel by Anne Rice, this vampire film stars Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt as Lestat de Lioncourt and Louis de Pointe du Lac, respectively.

The supporting cast includes: Stephen Rea as Santiago, Antonio Banderas as Armand, Christian Slater as Daniel Molloy and 11-year-old Kirsten Dunst in her breakthrough role as Claudia.

Tom Cruise gives a divine performance as an elegant vampire who revels in his supernatural abilities and eternal lifespan. Brad Pitt is fantastic as someone who dreads his existence as a bloodsucking demon. Antonio Banderas is both suave and remarkably creepy as leader of an ancient coven of European vampires. Stephen Rea is wonderfully malicious as a devious vampire who poses himself as a stage actor. Christian Slater is brilliant as a reporter who willingly tries to get the story of a vampire’s everlasting life. Kirsten Dunst even proves to be a real scene-stealer as an immortal child whose psychological maturity evolves over time but whose physical growth is completely frozen.

The movie demonstrates the consequences of vampirism. While some people might find the mythical idea of living forever or gaining superhuman strength intriguing, the mortal victim of the vampire phase is technically doomed to lose all sense of religious faith and acquire uncontrollable instincts to feed on the living to survive. However, Louis had lost everything dear to him when he was a human, thus wishing his sorrow would be put to an end. That’s when Lestat arrives to eradicate the suffering of Louis’ mortality. The difference is the charismatic Lestat lives a life of endless (though diabolical) pleasure. Louis on the other hand desperately tries to quench his thirst for human blood. He is even appalled as he watches Lestat murder innocent people night after night. What’s more, Lestat turns a young girl named Claudia (who just lost her parents) into a vampire to entice Louis to remain at his side. That scene alone is Lestat toying with Louis’ longing for a companion.

The plot centers on the relationship between Lestat, Louis and Claudia in terms of love and influence. Lestat takes Claudia as his pupil, during which she ends up just as devilish as her instructor. Meanwhile, Louis develops paternal feelings for Claudia, and vice versa, hence the father/daughter connection of the story.

The makeup process transforms each actor to reflect the refinement of every vampire. Lestat has the appearance of an aristocratic gentleman (which he uses to lure his prey) as opposed to a hideous creature of the shadows. The enhanced features of Louis are really that of a brooding man whose humanity is stripped away to the extent that he cannot escape from his torment. Claudia has the hair and complexion of a porcelain doll. Armand is ultimately a symbol of both power and leadership. On top of all that, the vampires have an intense stare and veins protruding from their faces as a result of their maniacal attributes.

The film takes place over the course of two centuries from 1791 to the early 1990s. The late 18th century depicts the creation of Louis and Claudia’s vampiric forms by Lestat in Louisiana, back when the state was governed by Spain. The 19th century depicts the eventual daring escape from Lestat, after which Louis and Claudia settle down in Paris, home of Armand, whose coven (dwellers of the catacombs) murder humans in the form of theatrical horror shows. The City of Lights is where Louis learns more about the existence of vampires as well. The 20th century depicts Louis finding himself wandering the world alone through personal circumstances. Eventually, he comes across the technology that enables him to finally see the light again in a safe, entirely different way.

Although the movie doesn’t contain much of a soundtrack, a cover version of “Sympathy for the Devil” is heard during the end credits.

Finally, the significance of the film is that aside from its frightening yet fascinating presence, the vampire basically represents the outsider of mortal society. On that note, it is sometimes necessary to comprehend the agony of a vampire, thus showing a sympathetic viewpoint. All that said, I recommend this enticing movie to every fan of the vampire genre.🦇

[redbone135]

Hey!! I'm curious; why do you like vampires?

I promise I'm not being negative or judgey, I really am just curious and I don't think I've ever really asked you why they're one of your favorite creatures, and I'd genuinely like to know why :)

Also, does that mean you have an appreciation for vampire bats too?

So, not being negative or judgey, but what answer are you looking for? Like... what kind of answer have you come up with that makes it worth asking to confirm? 

Honestly, that’s a really hard question to answer cause I haven’t put much thought into it. I like what I like and sometimes it’s better to not ask myself why?

It would be really easy to write it off as a tangential thing. That a lot of the shows I like about vampires have incredibly talented writers or casts that tie into my other interests. Buffy shares some writers with Once Upon a Time and Torchwood, True Blood has Michael Raymond James and Lizzy Caplan in it,   Interview with a Vampire not only has a very talented author but stars Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise among many other big cast members. Vampires are popular in the kind of drama, soap-opera meets action adventure style shows I like to watch. So it kind of happens by accident in that regard. 

But that’s not the complete answer because before I was watching vampires, I was actively seeking them out in books. Pirates too. As a pre-teen I had to live with my grandmother for a little while due to some home-life stuff and out of sheer boredom - because she only took me to the library once a week and didn’t have cable - I might have started borrowing... yeah... that’s the word we’ll use... some books and movies that were not all that age-appropriate from the other old-folks in her community. You know the books I’m talking about... my grandma called them ‘fire books’. And as a librarian, I’m sure you’re aware that those kinds of books often feature vampires, pirates, and other morally grey heroes. That time spent there is also where my love of musical theater started, but I digress. It was a really formative age, and the loveable rouges in those books always got the girl and always saved the day, despite being ‘bad’ guys... and I guess part of that stuck.

I’ve mentioned to you before in passing that we come from different cultures, mine tended to be a lot more morally grey a lot younger in life. I didn’t have the role models telling me how to think or act, and the things I was exposed to young weren’t the best examples of good behavior either. I like the morally-greyness of tropes like vampires and pirates because they also don’t have the same easy definition of good and evil. For whatever reason, life hasn’t been kind to them, and they’ve had to make tough calls either out of self-preservation or fear. Pre-teen me related to that. They then have to build their own moral code the hard way, which is what I was trying to do at the same time I was reading all these books. And because they built their own moral code - because their morals came from themselves and not others - it often meant that they were a lot stronger in their convictions and it was that ambiguity that allowed them to thrive and be the hero because they were thinking very critically about the world around them and their place in it. I guess pre-teen me related to that too. 

I like good vampires because they have to ask themselves HOW to be good, it doesn’t just come naturally. I like bad vampires because they are an example of HOW easy it is to fall into traps when you let others define you. There is nothing better than a good vampire that overcomes, and nothing scarier than a bad vampire who is exactly what others say he is. 

So yeah - is that a suitable answer? Or were you looking for something a little more deviant :P

[nd-poite]

POA Synopsis/Inspiration - Spoilers

Planet of the Amazons began as a horror story I dreamt of one night wayyy back in 2017 --

"Every year when the moon is full and the sun eclipses and the sky turns red, a portal between worlds opens. . .and whether you know it or not the dead walk among you. Every Halloween the destroyer of worlds swears his soul to the god of death, the god who lies in his shadow quaking in fear and scorn. . . It was decided by mankind - after the creatures of the night crawled out from the earth where the great comet fell and many wars were fought — that the great beast would be allowed to rule for just one night; just one night to take and do all he pleased — and all he pleased caused Death himself to grieve. In one night the great beast devoured more souls than Death could capture, and in one night the great beast amassed more gold than dragons could covet. . .The great beast whose name couldn’t be spoken without causing the hearts of men to faint — whose war cries bounded off of the mountains and brought down forests, whose fury parted oceans and split the earth. . . And he was my love. None knew what laid beneath the mask, what creature wore the suit of armor but I did. . . He was mine and I was his. Sworn to his side. Bound."

And I mean, whatever, right? I was seventeen going on eighteen heavily influenced by Game of Thrones and the Gothic Horror/Romance Genre. When I dreamt about his armor, it was like something out of Dark Souls, and his name was very Lovecraftian. It was like 15 letters long and I'm afraid to say it out loud for fear of summoning an actual demon.

Anyways! I started trying to build on that idea, on those three dreams. The first where I'd seen an actual monster destroying and milling the world, the second where he turned into a person and was living with "me" and the third, where "I" was actively participating in burning and pillaging the countryside.

What if they were both night creatures and crawled out of the earth together? What if they were giants? What if she was a part of the earth itself? What if they were like steven universe and they created lesser beings as if they were the diamonds? What if she were mortal? What if he were this great cosmic evil in love with this tiny precious warrior? And he’s just a punch clock villain? Or a yakuza slash house husband? But mostly I kept trying to understand how you could love something so wicked and vile? And be so normal? Be a captain? A general? OR what if it was simply a matter of perspective and he wasn’t wicked or vile?

What could make you love a monster?

And because of that I made "Hari", one of my favorite characters and one of the only guy characters I’ve ever truly cared about.

And as I went through the process of trying to ground it, romanticizing him, like he’s Gary Oldman's Dracula I kind of had a heel-turn realization. Bram Stoker didn't initially envision Dracula as romantic or worthy of sympathy, you mostly see him through other characters and he doesn't have any ties to Mina. But James V Hart and Francis Ford Coppola had other ideas when they adapted the classic into a movie. . . anyways, there's a trope called "Cry for the Devil" for a reason. In the new narrative, Dracula was a man of the people and a well-loved leader who damned himself for the love of his Mina, raging against the heavens which definitely doesn't justify all of the vicious rape and murder but young Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise--and characters like Eric and Bill or Damon and Stefan can help you figure it out. I think the actors for Eric Northman and Damon Salvatore cared more about the actions of their characters than the raging adoring fans did. Or villains like Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender.

And when I think of music for Hari and his world I think of Metallica and Filter. . . Songs like Pretty Piece of flesh and the Devil does Drugs -- things like Alternative-Rock from the 90s early 2000s, Neo Metal and Punk they used in early 2000s vampire movies and games ie Blade or Vampire Bloodlines: The Masquerade.

For the second half of the story, I was honestly really into like Star Trek at the time. I watched Star Wars "A New Hope" once, forgot about it, forgot where I'd seen Adam Driver from, and began binging the original Star Trek show in its place.

Hari had a girlfriend/wife/life partner that needed a backstory, or at least an explanation that I no longer felt made sense to the original dream I'd had. What kind of creature or person would love a flawed monster like Hari? Would rule by his side? The concept I came up with still might not make any sense but at this point, I don't care because I got caught up in a whole different theme. I can't turn back now.

I started off with the simple concept of some random space travelers crashing onto a foreign planet for whatever reason whether it be for space exploration or looking for a new home or y'a know fleeing their homeland/the law — and as a result, they find themselves stranded on this barren (or flourishing) planet // but really there are invisible barriers and walls buildings built into the planet--and there are "people" living there. . .

And as our precious protagonists explore the planet, they find it’s like an island full of everything that could possibly kill you — the flora is beautiful but poisonous and the fauna is oversized & hungry 😂 Sort of like Skull Island meets Pandora from Avatar. . . And the "people" are all female. '

Ie where the title even comes from "Planet of the Amazons" and the ball just started rolling. There's this beautiful period in pop culture where space serials and science fiction were just hot--popping and the art that came from it was just phenomenal. Movies like Flash Gordon or Mom & Dad Save the World started coming to mind; that weird campy 70s 80s level of sci-fi ham--the age of Raygun Gothic and Pulp Fiction comics started coming to mind and I knew I had my idea.

And I get it. It's a complete tonal shift, an entirely different genre but I think we can make it work. If it happens in different time periods or even a different series altogether, which is what I decided on in the end. . . But realistically, the Planet of the Amazons is how and where Hari really gets his origin story. Although some stories are better off without knowing a couple of details, Hari isn't entirely a villain or rather a villain I don't want to be redeemed.

So! What and how could something like Hari come into power? What could give him power over life and death? What even is Hari? I came up with the answer after reading/writing a "Game of Thrones" inspired Avengers fic. . . In Greek Mythology, the Amazons copulated with the neighboring Gargareans in order to keep both tribes going. It's just that simple. And from there I wrote this weird intergalactic space mythology inspired by that simple concept, the camp of the 70s and 80s, and HP Lovecraft's Mythos.

Akasha was sort of a character born out of an ideal? I draw a lot of similarities between Akasha and Jade as well as Creed and Hari--and it's honestly because I started writing Planet of the Amazons to replace the older story. I wanted to try and write what I thought healthy love and healthy relationships looked like. . . I failed and wound up writing more weird science fiction.

Akasha is living an idyllic life, truly, and she was made to rule, literally. Her storyline isn't necessarily about breaking the mold, but more about her struggling with rejecting it as not being confident or comfortable in said mold. Hers is sometimes a cautionary tale of "Be Careful of What You Wish For" but at the same, Akasha's story is mainly about pilgrimage and personal esteem? Or whatever lesson Thor was supposed to learn in the first two Kenneth Brannagh movies. I think I deal with the same themes in what I write, over and over again: "Be Careful What You Wish For" loneliness, depression, trauma. . . and this is no different. You'd be damned to find any positive or healthy kind of love right off the bat for any of my characters, let alone main characters. . .

I liked the simple concept of some random humans crashing onto a foreign planet for whatever reason whether it be for space exploration or just looking for a new home or y'a know fleeing someone behind them — and as a result, they find themselves stranded on this barren (or flourishing) planet // but really there are invisible barriers and walls buildings built into the planet--and there are "people" living there. . .

And as our precious protagonists explore the planet, they find it’s like an island full of everything that could possibly kill you — the flora is beautiful but poisonous and the fauna is oversized & hungry 😂 Sort of like Skull Island meets Pandora from Avatar

— so say they were explorers and their ship is broken so they can’t leave?

— so like every scouting party and hunting party (and yadda) of whatever kind has failed to both make contact with the native indigenous species—the amazons, as well as map the entirety of the geography of the planet because it’s so vast; they noted a few animal species and a couple of plant files, but not enough to safely navigate

And anyways! They discover that the natives are highly territorial — and although they’ve never seen one up close :/ or at all? Someone/something is hanging up massive dead animals along the tree line as if to warn the newcomers + as if to say you can’t see us but we’re watching you

I think tho, I had Akasha and her friends sort of watching the crash landed people — curious. Because the Amazons are notoriously all female. This time they’re colorful female aliens with multiple extremities and they’ve exiled/

And then highkey I was reading this fanfic of medieval avengers that was GOT inspired and I got to thinking about the Gargareans. . .

It’s typical to have a story like “first time I’m seeing a man, wow Gotta have sex and fall in love”

Or something like “unite two kingdoms by arranged marriage”

And I wasn’t sure I wanted that route

So instead I leaned into the gothic/cosmic horror genre

I love government conspiracies waaaay too much. . .

So Planet of the Amazons became this story with a lot of history and lore // the Gargarean’s were an ancient race of space giants as were the Amazons

— the Amazons were conquerors, world destroyers, colonizers; they eclipsed suns and devoured them as well etc like Galactus // they consumed Star ways and planets + and what they didn’t eat, they’d bring home to colonize and subjugate — they were known to bathe starways in red

And the Gargareans were sort of the opposite, they worshipped strange gods and were more interested in science — like they built a human zoo. Y’a know? They were collectors and liked to pretend they were more civilized and peaceful )) and the strange gods they worshipped granted them powers and blessings etc

And at some point the Amazons and Gargareans began to sort of mix together // whether it was before or after the ancient grudge was settled

// so the boys from their union were sort of were cursed + and the Amazons were infected

— which is why we have Cetus

— and why we have Hari

— and that’s why modern Amazon women have ancient magic beyond the sorcery they already practiced

And eventually it was just like the Amazons had to exile their men because the Gargareans pushed them over the edge // and the only way to keep the Amazons alive was to do so, to use science and tech to continue breeding but keep the secs desperate and the men in chains/spell bound

Meanwhile, the Gargareans sort of began to crumble ad well because their strange gods were angry. . . They worshipped gods who were being puppeted by an old cosmic evil beyond our concepts of space and time like the Crimson King / and that cosmic evil wanted to be a part of our reality?

So the cosmic evil manipulated the children of the amazons and gargareans // or tried to // the amazons have their own magic — but the Gargareans were vulnerable. So Cetus becomes the great hammer for the cosmic evil, their puppet and wreaks havoc on Gargarean decimating their numbers and terrifying them into submission

But Cetus sort of goes crazy with all that power and the fact that cosmic evil drives you insane — so he’s more like a mad dog, y’a know? And he starts eating and growing and he never stops + and he knows he has to get to the Amazons before it’s too late

Anyways!

The Gargareans Started killing the children they had with the Amazon/practicing child sacrifice because their gods were angry

Which caused a HORRIBLE war between the amazons and the garagareans that lasted for a long time

It led Hari’s parents to abandon him on a random planet that at the moment is earth // and that’s where he grew up under the watchful eye of Death himself 

[midnight-3r]

interview with the vampire (1994)

[therealvinelle]

You or The Muffin made a post on your dream cast(s), but I’m not really familiar with those references/actors (with the exception of Bowie and Jean Claude Van Damme and Clint Eastwood I think you mentioned). Is there anyone you would choose that’s a little more recent (80s-present)?

Our dream cast.

Our dream voice cast, for those interested.

Fun fact, both those posts were composed together, so yeah we share these opinions. We composed this one together as well.

Keep in mind that this list is... well it's for Twilight as I would make it. Which means that of course we’re casting a Didyme, nevermind that she’s been dead for thousands of years, but Denali who?

And once again we’re disrupting the time-space continuum and casting big name actors you’ve definitely heard about as they were ten, twenty, or thirty years ago.

Alright, so newer and shinier Twilight fancast, this time with a few alternatives because decisions are hard:

Alice: ... Audrey Hepburn.

I'm sorry. I tried. I tried to be modern, but I got to Alice and originally we thought Saoirse Ronan, appearances be damned because Ronan is a great actress, only to realize Ronan should be Renesmée.

So we're back to the dream cast. Audrey Hepburn was a tiny, pixie-like, yet ridiculously beautiful woman. Like Alice, her growth was stunted due to prolonged starvation during the War, so she's the perfect casting in a way no modern Western actress is going to be. She was also an amazing actress, just absolutely magnetic each time she graced the screen. She would be a fantastic Alice.

Aro: A young Tom Cruise.

Cruise is an absurdly beautiful man, and at 173 cm he is the right stature as I could never cast a tall actor for Aro. He's a very good actor, so I'm sure he'd be up for it. Also, he'd look great with chalky petrified vampire makeup on. He'd pull it off. I want to see this.

Optionally: Cate Blanchett

Yes, she's a woman. But that's what acting is all about, you play someone you're not. It's more a thing in theatre than in film that men can play women and women can play men, but I say fuck the rules, we're doing it theatre style. And Blanchett absolutely have that enigmatic, ethereal, otherworldly quality I'd want for Aro.

Bella: A young Sarah Michelle Gellar

Gellar is a petite beauty, she is spunky yet adorable, and very charming, the people of Forks and the Cullens would very believably gravitate towards her. Most importantly she has the acting chops to pull it off. She would portray an amazing Bella.

Caius: Daniel Craig

The man is the right age, he's someone you don't mess with. Craig has perhaps a touch too charismatic, but he's good enough that I'm hopeful he could tune it down.

Carlisle: A young Leonardo DiCaprio

DiCaprio is ridiculously attractive and has a bad case of The Babyface™. Watching him try to convince people that he’s 30 years old and has adult kids would be absolutely hilarious, and very faithful to the books. He’s a talented actor, too, very versatile.

Optionally: David Tennant

Tennant doesn't look the part, he is handsome but handsome in that particular way when flawed features come together handsomely. He does however have the perfect charm, gravitas, and energy for the character, so I think he could make a great Carlisle. 

This is where the magic of movie adaptions come in - you’re not going to be able to translate directly from text to screen, that’s impossible. If you embrace that and make some bold choices, you stand to make a truly spectacular adaption. One of the reasons why the Twilight films failed is that they were too faithful to the books while failing to understand the spirit of them, whereas the TV miniseries adaption of His Dark Materials switched a lot of things up and is absolutely amazing for it.

Demetri: Robert Downey Jr.

Ridiculously charismatic and talented actors cast in bit parts and making them shine is a passion of mine.

Didyme: Cate Blanchett

Look, Blanchett had to be in this somehow, and we could think of no one more appropriate. She has too much enigma for Esme, is too womanly for Alice, and once the idea for Didyme was had it was hard to weasel out of. 

Cate Blanchett would be convincing as Aro's sister, as a woman who haunts her lover and brother even thousands of years after her passing, an enigmatic and divine woman who can never be forgotten.

Also she's my fancast for her brother, so this works out quite nicely. Why cast someone who merely looks like Aro’s actor when you can just cast the same actor.

Edward: A young Johnny Depp

Very few men are otherworldly beautiful. There are countless handsome men, yes, and many beautiful ones, but Depp has extreme and symmetrical features that come together beautifully. Robert Pattinson does too, for the record, so what makes me prefer Depp is the fact that he is an incredible actor. Pattinson is good, but Depp is the kind of talent who can power through even the worst scripts, give him nothing and he will give you the world. He’s on Al Pacino’s level, this man can salvage anything.

Emmett: Terry Crews

Terry Crews is a mountain of a man, he's massive. He'd nail Emmett's infectious cheer, too. He has a very symmetrical and attractive face that follows the golden ratio beautifully, so I could buy him being a vampire.

Esme: Anne Hathaway ten years ago. Ref one, ref two.

She’s out of this world beautiful and has the perfect Esme aesthetic. Hands down best Esme. The fact that she’s a very good actress helps.

Felix: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

He’s got the physique for the part and would be absolutely menacing.

James: Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt is a character actor who tragically got lost in the blockbuster scene. He’s good, he deserves cool parts. So yeah, Pitt as James. I think he’d be absolutely amazing for the part, it’d be the kind of performance where you can tell the actor was enjoying every second on set.

Jane and Alec: Child Dakota Fanning

Fanning was a good choice for Jane, it's just that she was slightly too old when she was cast (and they made her look even older!) and the screenwriters had written a different character than the one in the books (and not for the better - I’m all for changing things in an adaption! But, well, she was Marvel levels of bad villain). And as Alec is a bit part and supposed to be nearly identical to her, I’d just have Fanning play him as well.

Jasper: Clint Eastwood, every time.

Optionally: feels like blasphemy to even have an “optionally”, but here we are. If you somehow haven’t heard of the guy, then… er. No, sorry, I’ve got nothing. Know that I tried, though.

Marcus: Tom Holland

The man has such babyface, which fits since Marcus is 19.

Just Tom Holland, sitting around, looking young and depressed.

Renata: A young Natalie Portman

Yes, yes, Renata is a bit part, I know that, but this is my Twilight we're casting for so I do what I want.

Portman fits the physical description for Renata, and I find that description to be relevant to her character. She's a teeny tiny woman charged with protecting the most important man in the world, and gifted with intouchability. Portman looks is beautiful enough to fit the bill for a Twilight vampire, and tiny enough to stress the absurdity of this 5′0″ woman being anybody’s bodyguard, nevermind Aro’s.

Renesmée: Child Saoirse Ronan (Though Adult Ronan works too, she’s my cast for the hybrid gremlin period.)

She was an extraordinarily talented child actress, and she’s beautiful while odd-looking. I could absolutely believe I was looking at an otherworldly hybrid when looking at her.

Mostly I think Renesmée is going to be a very hard part for anybody, as the given actor will be portraying one of the most ridiculed characters in recent pop culture. It’ll take major talent to get the audience to care about Renesmée, but I think Ronan, if anybody, could do it.

Rosalie: Margot Robbie ten years ago

She’s out of this world beautiful, and more importantly she’s an incredible actress. She would be incredible for the part.

[xlilvamp]

Louis, Armand and Lestat. Did you ever imagine Leo on the Interview with the vampire movie as Armand? He had the idea. Twitter: @Armand_Vamp

[the-vampire-queer]

The Vampires Digital Media Poll: Round 1, Bracket 1

Please reblog for a bigger sample size.

Results get posted on December 10th. at 5PM CST.

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If you wish to learn more about your options, either as a refresher or an introduction, press the "Keep reading" button.

What is Interview with the Vampire (1994) about?

Summary: "Born as an 18th-century lord, Louis is now a bicentennial vampire, telling his story to an eager biographer. Suicidal after the death of his family, he meets Lestat, a vampire who persuades him to choose immortality over death and become his companion. Eventually, gentle Louis resolves to leave his violent maker, but Lestat guilts him into staying by turning a young girl -- whose addition to the "family" breeds even more conflict." Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Source: Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Cast:

Brad Pitt - Louis de Pointe du Lac

Tom Cruise - Lestat de Lioncourt

Kirsten Dunst - Claudia

Christian Slater - Daniel Molloy

Antonio Banderas - Armand

Note: Cast lists provided here are not complete lists of people and characters featured in the media being listed. These are partial lists that include some of the main characters and their actors.

Additional information: This movie is based on the Anne Rice novel of the same name. Anne Rice was an author who wrote 13 books for her book series The Vampire Chronicles, which starts with the book, The Interview with the Vampire. In 2022, a tv show of the same name was created, also based on the book(s).

What is The Lost Boys trilogy about?

Summary of the first movie: "Teenage brothers Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Corey Haim) move with their mother (Dianne Wiest) to a small town in northern California. While the younger Sam meets a pair of kindred spirits in geeky comic-book nerds [Edgar] (Corey Feldman) and Alan (Jamison Newlander), the angst-ridden Michael soon falls for Star (Jami Gertz) -- who turns out to be in thrall to David (Kiefer Sutherland), leader of a local gang of vampires. Sam and his new friends must save Michael and Star from the undead." Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Note: Rotten Tomatoes incorrectly labels Edgar Frog as "Edward Frog". This is corrected by me via brackets.

Summary of the second movie: "After moving to a new California town, a young woman (Autumn Reeser) learns that her new friends are a pack of vampires." Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Summary of the third movie: "The Frog brothers (Corey Feldman, Jamison Newlander) must prevent a vampire from unleashing an army of his repulsive ilk." Source: Rotten Tomatoes

Source: The Lost Boys (1987)

Cast (first movie only):

Jason Patric - Michael Emerson

Corey Haim - Sam Emerson

Jami Gertz - Star

Kiefer Sutherland - David

Corey Feldman - Edgar Frog

Jamison Newlander - Alan Frog

Note: Cast lists provided here are not complete lists of people and characters featured in the media being listed. These are partial lists that include some of the main characters and their actors.

Additional information: The original The Lost Boys movie (1987) had a novelization of it created shortly after the movie's release. The novel was made by author Craig Shaw Gardner. Scenes that had not made it into the film previously were featured in the novel (sourced from Goodreads).

[thorniest-rose]

sighhhhh why couldn't the gay 90's movie that ralph macchio got cast in have been Interview with a Vampire instead of Naked in New York? As hot as Antonio Banderas was, he didn't fit the description of Armand in the books at all (which was beautiful twink, so...).

oh my god??? I think I'm sharing a hive mind with all my anons right now because I've also thought about Ralph playing Armand in Interview with the Vampire!!! Like first Ralph as Peter Parker and now Ralph as Armand?? We are all vibing so hard together omg.

Okay so I had this really intense period of time as a young teen when I was obsessed with The Vampire Chronicles and I mean obsessed. I was so attached to all of the characters and fixated on their stories and lore and how they all interwove. And I specifically remember how Armand was so different in the film to how he's portrayed in the book. Like Antonio Banderas' Armand is this very masculine and imposing kind of character. Really hot as you say, but this isn't the book Armand. Book Armand became a vampire when he was a teenager, like 15 I think? And he was a model and a muse for artists in Italy. I think he's even described as a delicate, cherubic beauty. How perfect would that have been for Ralph? 

Plus book Armand was so devious and manipulative. Like he is a complete BITCH. So just imagine Ralph playing this sassy little vampire cosying up to Brad Pitt (and it also being heavily implied that he'd fucked Lestat aka Tom Cruise) and then him killing Claudia out of jealousy because she's taking Louis away from him..... this would have been amazing!!!! Bitchy beautiful & devious twink Ralph would have made the best Armand!!! Let him be the nasty lil femme fatale vampire pin-up who sinks his claws into Brad Pitt 🙏

[ive-lost-my-effervescent-mind]

So I watched Interview with the Vampire for the first time

I watched Interview with a Vampire for the first time just now and here are my thoughts, in the order I thought them. The movie is like two hours long and I had a LOT of thoughts but the movie’s on hulu so if you watch it, maybe read along idk

Christian Slater looks like Logan Lerman send tweet

Brad Pitt isn't that hot ngl

What's with Vampires and the confederacy?

I mean really. Twilight, Vampire Dairies, Beautiful Creatures and now this

Ngl, flying while drinking someone's blood is pretty gay

This whole movie so far is pretty gay

They're boyfriends, I've decided it

Okay maybe Brad Pitt was kinda hot

Tom Crusie is still creepy tho

All this seems pretty tame so far, idk why it's rated R

"Now look with your vampire eyes." Stephenie Meyer wishes she wrote this line

"I'll be waiting for you." G A Y

Are they in France?

Oh no he has a conscience 

Tom Cruise being the best vampire boyfriend and killing the victim for his vampire boyfriend 

It's important to note that i have no idea what these characters' names are

Literally, I don't think they've been said

Did he just- is he eating a rat?

Oh, they're in Louisiana

Lestat, what a funny name

I need some blood, Lestat

Read her mind? really? The more pre-twilight vampire stuff I see the less impressed I become with Stephenie Meyer’s concepts

What's that thing on his thumb?

You may be old enough to be his grandmother, murderous old lady, but his vampire boyfriend is more than old enough to be yours

"Life without me would be even more unbearable" I said it before and I’ll say it again: GAY

Brad Pitt really said let's go to KFC

Wow they're really trying to convince us that Vampire Brad Pitt was nice to his slaves and really cared about them. Disgusting

Oh, his name is Louis

Maybe Tom Cruise is cute

Still creepy tho

Okay, NOW they're in France

Is he-is he eating her boob!?

Yes! He drank her blood from her boob!

I get why it's R now

"So I'm sitting there with blood on my titties"

I love Louis's hair, such volume

The coffee table is a coffin, how smart

There is a lot of drinking of rats in this movie

Oh, the plague, how relatable 

Awww, Baby Kirsten Dunst

More rats, yay

He made her a vampire?

She's like 9. Imagine never aging past nine

Oh, it's a knife ring. How cool

Wow Claudia really likes the test of vamp blood. It's not like Lestat doesn't deserve it

Wow, she becomes a vampire and her hair is instantly curled

How nice, he's poking a hole in the nanny-juice box for her

"Our little daughter." G A Y

I appreciate this gay vampire dad content

I love how she kills every man who pisses her off. Good for her

"I want to be her." Poor baby

Claudia is fighting back. So much rage in such a small body

Oh my god her hair. It just grows back. Dear god

She cut him. Good for her

Oh no

"Louis my love" oh no oh no oh no

If this movie is going where i think it is imma turn it off

Oh wait nvm

She just wants to leave

Thank god

"Is that supposed to scare me?" This kid is I C O N I C

Lestat is a Le-Jerk

Did she kill him?

She did, she did kill him. He deserved it tho

"He belongs with those reptiles." Claudia is a savage

This is such a violent and brutal break up

Also: this movie is L O N G

Oh no, the plague, again

At least Claudia gets to go to a ball, and the opera

I don't know who this other vampire is but i sense that he's an asshole

He's so odd. But i guess you do what you gotta do to say entertained

You could say his eternal life literally drove him up the wall

Oh! The dad from spy kids

He has a card, how classy

I love how no one questions that Louis takes a kid out in high society 

"A vampire pretending to be a human pretending to be a vampire." " How avant garde" this kid!

Oh my god that isn't an actress. Its an actual victum

There he is! The dad from spy kids!

They really killed her in front of all those people. Theatre these days, amirite?

How cute, they have little coffin cubbies

See Louis, every vampire has a kid

Oh wait no

He's not a vampire kid, he's an actual child that they just feed on

Vampire dad-from-spy-kids really said fuck your morality

Why does Claudia call Louis beloved. It creeps me out

It's illegal to kill another vampire. Damn

It's illegal to make a young vampire, as it should be

That being said, Lestat told them none of this!

Ofc, Louis has made yet another vampire fall in love with him. Good for him

"You...are...beautiful, my friend." G A Y

Lestat was really everyone's asshole ex, wasn't he?

Oh no! Claudia wants a friend

She's guilt tripping him. Good for her

Oh wow, he actually did it

Oh wait he didn't 

Oh no, he lost his humanity 

Why is she gonna kiss him

Oh good the vampire police are here to stop it

I mean: oh no! Not the vampire kid!

Armand! Do something! Save your vampire love interest!

More coffins, great

Louis's punishment is giving me "Cask of armillio” vibes 

Oh shit, the dungeons has no ceiling to the sky, she's gonna burn

Poor Claudia

Oh, and also Madeline i guess

Yes Armond! Free him!

Louis for vampire dad of the year

Oh no...they're ash

Poor Louis

"So vampires can cry" See Smeyer! See!

Is that...oil?

Oh yes, yes it is. And he's covering everything with it

LOUIS REALLY SAID ALL YOU KILLED MY DAUGHTER, PREPARE TO DIE

wheres armund tho

Oh no the sun

There he is! There's Armund!

And the blood boy

Oh shit, Louis is maaddd

"But the world was a tomb to me." Damn

More rats. Great.

"The scent of death...an old death." Lestat? Is that you?

It is Lestat!

He looks like shit

Has he been sitting there since the late 1700s?

"But all my passion went with her golden hair." Still unclear if he loves her as a daughter or as something else...very creepy

Proof that this movie is gay: the framing device takes place in SF

Oh shit. It's Lestat

He's gonna kill the interviewer 

Damn Lestat is salty

Oh wait, he's gonna turn him

In conclusion

All vampire content is, on some level, gay, whether intentional or not. This movie is definitely not the exception.

This movie is L O N G

the plot is kinda unclear. It’s very character driven (?)

Edward should have made Bella watch this movie in order to convince her not to be a vampire

Even though Jane is originally a brunette in the books, she’s esentially just Claudia

I started watching this movie thinking Tom Crusie and Brad Pitt are just kinda creepy middle aged dudes. It’s nice to know they were kinda cute back in the day. Still creepy tho

For some reason, I thought this was the movie where the little girl says “I see dead people”

It isn’t, in case anyone is wondering

[therefugeofbooks]

Blogtober, Day 8: Favourite Movie Adaption — Horror Book Edition

Interview with the Vampire (1994) is one of the dearest horror movie adaptations to me.

After I read Twilight, I went through a vampire phase (who didn't?), and I read a lot of vampire books, not all very good. And I remember my mother (a closeted goth) mentioning The Interview of the Vampire movie and the books. I don't recall exactly, but I believe I watched the movie first, (the time we had cable tv at home, and the movie was on tv in the middle of the night??)

And I think it's kind of surreal how Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Antonio Banderas are together in this movie playing vampires and talking about the meaning of life?? F****** Tom Cruise? Antonio Bandeiras, aka Zorro? Sometimes I wonder if this was just a weird dream, and then, I rewatch it, and I can't believe this cast.

I love this cast, by the way. Brad Pitt gets the angsty vibes of Louis, the sad look, his inner concerns. Tom Cruise is fancy, theatrical, and annoying, the bat prince himself. Antonio Banderas is so weird and unique that is difficult to not enjoy his extravagance. Kirsten Dunst portrays emotions so well, and she was so young!

Even though there are some cuts and changes from the book to movie, the soul of the story is there.The events are not so slow as in the book and detailed, but I don't feel mad about it, a recurrent feeling in books to movie adaptations. Antonio Banderas playing as Armand is a little bit funny. Armand is described in the book as a red-haired little angel. However, Antonio Banderas is so weird in the movie, wearing red and with that long black hair that is also lovely.

I watch this movie at least once a year twice or thrice sometimes, and let me say, it's still very entertaining! It has its charms. The clothes are beautiful, the scenery is stunning, the Theater of Vampire's scene is terrifying, and the vampires there? Spooky. I won't lie, it's a bit cheesy, but the Gothic vampire aesthetic is on point.

Also, there's an emotional factor here. I watched this young, and then I read the books. I love Anne Rice's books despite the many problems I have with them. And I have a soft spot for Louis and for the path Louis and Lestat go together to get past their traumas and issues and reconcile. Anyway, great adaptation.

What horror or spooky book to movie adaptions do you guys like? 

[gravecinema]

13 Scares of Halloween: Interview with the Vampire - 10/21/2020

Dracula may be the most famous vampire novel ever written. Since its publication in 1897, there have been many great additional vampire novels written about the genre. The one novel that has come closest to the original popularity of Dracula is Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, published in 1976. As with most highly successfully novels, it wouldn’t be long until it got its very own theatrical adaption. With its release in 1994, Interview with the Vampire would prove to become a true vampire cinematic classic.

Starring Brad Pitt as Louis and Tom Cruise as Lestat, Interview with the Vampire tells the tale of Louis reciting his history of becoming and living as a vampire to an interviewer played by Christian Slater. After Lestat turns Louis, we get to see how Louis copes with his newfound vampirism, and how to live with the carefree Lestat who turned him. Tom Cruise playing Lestat has to be my favorite role and performance of his. The man knows how to play a great antagonist and he plays Lestat very well.

Speaking of great performances, this movie also features the star making role of Kirsten Dunst as the young vampire Claudia. Her scenes are some of the most compelling, and for such a young actress, she really owns the role. The greatest strength this movie has is with its incredible cast, as it also has Antonio Banderas playing the vampire Armand. The star power of this movie really sets it apart from other vampire movies.  

As mentioned before, the best scenes of this movie feature Lestat. I can’t help but love his attitude of being a vampire, and how it contrasts with Louis’. While Louis feel mostly torture and depression of having to live forever as a cursed creature of the night, Lestat actually revels in it. I always felt bummed when Lestat supposedly dies in the movie, because he was such a fun character to watch. You can’t help but cheer when he shows back up at the very end in dramatic fashion and rides off into the night.  

Interview with the Vampire would eventually get a sequel with Lestat as the star eight years later in Queen of the Damned, but with the role recast. It’s a shame since Tom Cruise is what really made the role, and Queen of the Damned doesn’t quite have the flair that Interview with the Vampire had. If you need just one reason to watch Interview with the Vampire, then it’s for Tom Cruise’s performance as Lestat. He truly plays one of the most memorable vampire characters in cinema and make this movie a must watch for any vampire fan.