Interview with the Vampire

This sumptuously mounted adaptation of Anne Rice’s bestselling novel brings her most intriguing character, the vampire Lestat, to life in the person of matinee idol Tom Cruise. Rice partisans initially balked upon hearing that Cruise had been cast, but his charismatic presence strengthened the picture and disarmed most of his critics. Brad Pitt plays Louis, a sensitive young man who reveals to a reporter (Christian Slater) the story of his troubled, 200-year existence as a vampire, beginning with his induction into that unnatural fraternity by the courtly Lestat. The film, which travels to Europe and back over the course of centuries, is most compelling in its exploration of the alternative family formed by Lestat, Louis, and child vampire, Claudia (Kirsten Dunst in an impressive performance). As directed by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), Interview is slow going at times, but it features a terrific cast and possesses an eerily hypnotic quality that will appeal to horror-movie lovers in general and Rice fans in particular