This Day in Horror History: INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Opened in 1994
Mike Sprague
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On this day in horror history, director Neil Jordan’s adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt opened in 1994.
Based on the 1976 novel of the same name, the film focuses on Lestat (Cruise) and Louis (Pitt), beginning with Louis’s transformation into a vampire by Lestat in 1791. The film chronicles their time together, and their turning of ten-year-old Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) into a vampire. The narrative is framed by a present-day interview, in which Louis tells his story to a San Francisco reporter.
The cast includes Brad Pitt as Louis de Pointe du Lac and Tom Cruise as Lestat de Lioncourt with Kirsten Dunst as Claudia, Antonio Banderas as Armand, Stephen Rea as Santiago, Thandie Newton as Yvette, and Christian Slater as Daniel Molloy.
The film received Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Original Score. Kirsten Dunst was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
Interview with the Vampire was a box-office success, snagging $36.4M opening weekend, $105M domestic, and $224M worldwide on a budget of $60M.
The film sports a 63% approval rating over on Rotten Tomatoes with a Critics Consensus that reads: Despite lacking some of the book’s subtler shadings, and suffering from some clumsy casting, Interview with a Vampire benefits from Neil Jordan’s atmospheric direction and a surfeit of gothic thrills.
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