I will start by saying, Wow! I will get into why in a minute. I love vampire movies and lore. Hell, if offered, I might have a hard time turning away from such a gift. What about you? I have watched many movies, read many books, and enjoyed songs about vampires. Having done this, I have watched the movie Interview With A Vampire (1994), and this show is very different from that movie.
The movie and the show have the same premise: Louis the vampire talks to the reporter Malloy. Louis tells Malloy about his life, his death, and his rebirth into life with the vampire Lestat. Rather than being a retelling or reboot, the show is a continuation. Well, it is a combination of a retelling and a continuation. This Louis, played by Jacob Anderson, contacted Malloy, played by Eric Bogossian, years after they first interviewed to retell his story. They changed some of the details, such as the time period. The show occurs in the early 1900s rather than the late 1700s/early 1800s. Loius also looks very different. Rather than being a white plantation owner played by someone who looks like Brad Pitt, he is a black man running brothels in the South. Another profound change is that he is also gay.
More minor things have been changed, too, sucLestat’st (Sam Reid) creator. I want to say that Reid played Lestat to perfection. He was arrogant, French, and psychotic. I preferred this Lestat to Cruise’s Lestat. I also like Stuart Townsend’s Lestat over Tom Cruise too, but back to Sam Reid. I loved his voice and his accent. Claudia is black and a little older but child-like as Kirsten Stewart was to a point. She still has the long curly hair, though. How they found her was different as well. This time Louis found her in a fire he started accidentally.
In this Interview, it is much more bloody. The poor priest when Louis gets turned. SpeakLouis’sLouis’s transformation, you get to watch Louis’s complexion change with death. It was a nice touch. The feeding scenes certainly have more blood in them. It is not exactly gratuitous blood, but markedly more.
The story was just as gripping. I found myself entranced by the screen and wanting to watch more when each episode ended. There was more back and forth between Louis and Malloy. Malloy actually becomes a part of the movie as opposed to an interactive prop. Malloy calls Louis out on shit, and some of it made Louis more human. The story that Louis told, overall, made him more human and relatable.
It makes sense for this to be a series as opposed to a movie. There was so much more they told. Expanded on small parts even while shrinking or omitting/changing others. They kept the line, “YOU ARE A KILLER LOUIS!” yelled by Lestat, which I was happy about that, silly as it was for me to be. They handled the dependencies between their earlier interview with the current one.
I recommend watching this. Is it a faithful retelling? No. But that doesn’t take away from this being wonderful. I enjoyed it very much. Even my husband enjoyed it, and he is very picky about movies he like being remade and especially changed. Have you watched this? What are your thoughts on it? It can be found on Max if you want to give it a go. Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, have fun storming the castle!
