Interview with the Vampire: Happy Birthday Anne Rice #book2movie

‘‘Evil is a point of view. God kills indiscriminately and so shall we. For no creatures under God are as we are, none so like him as ourselves.” Lestat, Interview with a Vampire

Interview with the Vampire stars Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and a young Kirsten Dunst

What is it about vampires? Why is their bloodlust so irresistible? Beginning with Dracula, the greatest vampire of them all, that ravenous, dangerous desire has informed some megahits in the book2movie genre. Currently we have Matthew Goode as the seductive Matthew Clairmont in A Discovery of Witches and there's Robert Pattinson as Twilight's Edward, of course, but before them both, Tom Cruise brought Anne Rice's famous vampire Lestat to life onscreen. Rice, who celebrates a birthday today, October 3rd, wrote the screenplay based on her own novel which hit our movie screens way back in November of 1994. The lavish production earned an Oscar nomination for Dante Ferreti and Francesca Lo Schiavo for their art direction and set decoration while Oscar-winning composer Elliot Goldenthal for Frida earned a nomination for his score. Kirsten Dunst also earned a Golden Globe nom for her supporting actress performance. 

Worth a watch? Yes. But definitely, definitely worth a read!

About the book

#1 New York Times Bestselling author – The spellbinding classic that started it all – Book I of the Vampire Chronicles

Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force—a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write.

The book predates the film by a couple of decades, being published back in 1976. I recall devouring the novel the way these lusty vampires drink blood. The film starred Tom Cruise as Lestat, Brad Pitt as Louis and a very young Kirsten Dunst as Louis little girl. In fact, the film boasts quite the cast including Christian Slater, Antonio Banderas, and Thandie Newton. All actors with thriving careers these twenty-five years later. Was it something they drank?

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles is available to stream on most services: Amazon, Netflix, Vudu, YouTube, GooglePlay, Cinemax and iTunes.