INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
A film review by Andrew Hicks
Copyright 1996 Andrew Hicks / Fatboy Productions
*** (out of four)
I never thought I could endorse the movie that aligned pretty-boy stars Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas and Christian Slater and also inspired teenage losers with no identity to dye their hair red or black and wear those damn Army boots and Jim Morrison t-shirts everywhere. The ideal situation here would have involved me a) watching the movie, b) hating it, and c) writing a scathing review at the expense of Cruise, Pitt and weirdo novelist Anne Rice.
Unfortunately for me, I enjoyed INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE from the beginning. It was fresh, original and--most importantly--violent. There were throat-slittings, beheadings and raging fires to appeal to the basest of animal instincts while counterbalancing that with intellectual prose obviously drawn straight from Rice's text. It does sound a little strange coming from the mouths of Cruise and Pitt, much like frat boys putting on a production of "Macbeth" ("Et tu, dude?"), but if you've ever had a fantasy about Brad Pitt eating a poodle (and please keep it to yourself if you have), INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE is the movie you've been waiting for.
The story begins with vampire Pitt recounting his life story to reporter Slater. We learn of how Cruise sucked and sucked on his neck (I said NECK!) and how they both seemed to enjoy it a little too much. Soon, Pitt was an immortal with a thirst for blood, but since he was the humane kind, he had to suck the life out of rats and poodles instead. You know, with all the Morrison-worshipping vampire clones out there emulating this movie, that's the one thing I'd like to see one of those freaks do. Of course most of them _are_ vegetarians...
Cruise attempts to placate Pitt by "vampirizing" a 12-year-old girl (Kristen Dunst, in a remarkable performance) for his pleasure. Ah yes, the old placate-the-pedophile trick. It doesn't work in this case, unless the result Cruise wanted was to have his throat cut. So with Cruise out of the picture, Pitt and Dunst are free to enjoy the Renaissance together. Sure, the whole Pitt-Dunst relationship is a little sick, but there's no suggestion of a sexual relationship between the two, although they _do_ share a coffin.
Yes, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE is plenty perverse, a dark movie with violence and suction for the whole family, 17 and up that is.
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