Okay so recently I went back and watched one of my old favorite movies Interview with the Vampire. I wanted to check if it stood the test of time. I remember liking the movie when I was younger but sometimes people put a lot of points on things that they saw a long time ago with out really taking a good look at it.
I actually found this movie on the way to the Presidential Inauguration. We stopped at a thrift shop to pick up something and I saw this on VHS for like 1.00. I was like "hey use to love this movie" and I had not seen it since I actually read Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicle which this book comes from. So I also wanted to see how well the movie stood up to the book.
Alright for starters I will just say this. If this cast were in the same movie today people would lose their minds. We are talking Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Kirsten Dunst, Thandie Newton, and Christan Slater (I'm just saying). So at that point I'm thinking how can you go wrong, and I was right to think so.
The first, and most prevalent, thing that I felt was that Kirsten Dunst gave what is definitely my favorite performance of hers. Her portrayal of Claudia was amazing. She actually grew without growing. She was acting as if she was a child who was turned into a vampire who then became a woman who was trapped in a little girls body, and she pulled it off perfectly. I see Anne Rice's Claudia redone in so many vampire stories but none are better than the original.
As for Tom Cruise... there's nothing to say about Mr. Cruise, he nails like every freakin role he is placed in and this one is no different. One thing that I will say is that his transitions from smug vampire to infuriated immortal who seems like he has the answers but doesn't is a site to behold.
That brings me to Brad Pitt. Know his role, which is really the lead no matter what the cover says, is really what is most impressive about the whole movie. This is what vampire movie have been trying to do since forever and this was the only time I have seen them get it right. What I'm talking about is the tragic vampire. The super-natural immortal being that you sympathize with. When watching the movie you actually begin to feel for him a little. You actually start to think maybe being a vampire isn't such a good thing. The movie is really good at depicting that. It definitely make it look like being a vampire isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Other aspects of the movie that I really like are the fact that when ever they have to take liberties for the sake of time (because the book is so long) it is done in a very effective way that don't take away from the story. One example of this is whe Claudia tries to cut her hair just so that she can change something about herself and by the time she gets to the mirror the hair already grown back. This is done to show that she is truly in long term distress since the don't have the time to tell of 30 years worth of events.
Also since I am really into action in movie, when done correctly, the camera tricks used to depict speed are crazy effective. You actually get the feeling of true speed. All this without have to pay someone to make the effects of it.
In closing, in my opinion this is the best vampire movie ever done. It shows everything that vampire flick today are getting wrong, at least from the drama stand point because there are some decent action ones out there. But for me Interview with the Vampire will more than likely rank number one on my list for a long time to come.
