INTERVIEW W/THE VAMPIRE (DVD/DLAYER/WS/DTS/BEHIND S/NEW INTRO/AUDIO C-DIR) DVD

Interview With the Vampire
Anne Rice's best-selling Romantic horror tale about the origins of a centuries-old vampire inspired this popular, atmospheric chiller. One of director Neil Jordan's major Hollywood productions, the film stays close to its source material, retaining the frame of a young reporter (Christian Slater) interviewing a man who claims to be a 200-year-old vampire. The man, Louis (Brad Pitt), shares his story, beginning in 18th-century New Orleans with his first encounters with the charismatic and decadent vampire Lestat (Tom Cruise). Lestat converts Louis to blood-sucking and immortality, but Louis fails to adopt Lestat's cavalier attitude, instead tormenting himself with guilt over his new nature. The two vampires remain deeply, if reluctantly, connected over the years, while becoming intimately involved with others of their kind, including Claudia (Kirsten Dunst), a mature immortal in a young child's body. Fans of the novel raised numerous objections, particularly after Rice initially spoke out against the casting of Cruise as Lestat; further casting difficulties followed the death of River Phoenix, whose role as the interviewer was assumed by Christian Slater. Rice later recanted her objections, and the combination of thrills and gothic Romance proved popular with audiences. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Cast Tom Cruise as Lestat Brad Pitt as Louis Antonio Banderas as Armand Stephen Rea as Santiago Christian Slater as Malloy Kirsten Dunst as Claudia Domiziana Giordano as Madeleine Thandie Newton as Yvette Indra Ové as New Orleans Whore Laure Marsac as Mortal Woman on Stage

Crew Alan Tomkins - Art Director Jean-Michel Hugon - Art Director Jim Tocci - Art Director Malcolm Middleton - Art Director Juliet Taylor - Casting Susie Figgis - Casting Redmond Morris - Co-producer Sandy Powell - Costume Designer Joseph R. Burns - First Assistant Director Michael Stevenson - First Assistant Director Patrick Clayton - First Assistant Director Neil Jordan - Director Mick Audsley - Editor Joke Van Wijk - Editor George Fenton - Composer (Music Score) Elliot Goldenthal - Composer (Music Score) Stan Winston - Makeup Sarah Monzani - Makeup Morag Ross - Makeup Michele Burke - Makeup Nick Dudman - Makeup Dante Ferretti - Production Designer Philippe Rousselot - Cinematographer David Geffen - Producer Stephen Woolley - Producer Francesca Lo Schiavo - Set Designer Monroe Kelly - Set Designer Stella Furner - Set Designer Yves de Bono - Special Effects Rob Legato - Special Effects Clive Winter - Sound/Sound Designer Robert "Bobby Z" Zajonc - Stunts Michael Cristofer - Screenwriter Anne Rice - Screenwriter Neil Jordan - Screenwriter Anne Rice - Book Author Robert "Bobby Z" Zajonc - Pilot

Interview With the Vampire
The flap over whether Tom Cruise could pull off a blonde, long-haired vampire, about as far afield from anything he'd done as you can get, proved to be justified, but the miscasting is only one of the flaws of this intermittently pleasurable, but ultimately frustrating film. Cruise can't be blamed for giving anything less than his all, but a more European, Victorian actor (Daniel Day-Lewis had been mentioned) would have been a smarter translation of Anne Rice's seductive antihero. Brad Pitt compounds things by moping for much of the movie, bringing the number of charismatic actors misused by director Neil Jordan to two. What Jordan gets right is the gothic wantonness and moldering grandeur of old-world New Orleans, which becomes a character in itself through the Oscar-nominated art direction. The subculture of blood-sucking socialites is truly eerie, and the violence is more raw and grisly than was permissible in a stylized outing like Bram Stoker's Dracula. Making as big an impact as anything is 11-year-old Kirsten Dunst, in her Golden Globe-nominated breakthrough, thirstier for blood than most movie children get to be. Because of such heavy R-rated subject matter, audiences were divided on Interview With the Vampire depending on what they could tolerate. The only mediocre success of what could have been a franchise suggests that there is something untranslatable about Rice's stylish prose, which may also shed light on the slow crawl of her other novels toward the big screen. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
 

Dante Ferretti: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (nominated) Elliot Goldenthal: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Score (nominated) Elliot Goldenthal: Golden Globe, Best Original Score (nominated) Francesca Lo Schiavo: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (nominated) Kirsten Dunst: Golden Globe, Best Supporting Actress (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, French Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish Sound Processing: DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel DTS: Digital Theater Systems (akin to 5.1) Additional Features: "In the Shadow of the Vampire" featuring all-new interviews with the film's stars and creators Feature-length audio commentary by director Neil Jordan All-new introduction by Anne Rice, Neil Jordan, and Antonio Banderas Interactive menus Production notes Theatrical trailer Scene access Languages: English & Français Subtitles: English, Français & Español MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 122 min   DVD Chapters: Scene Selection 0. Scene Selection 1. Night over San Francisco (Credits) [3:00] 2. Another life for the collector [2:49] 3. My invitation to death [3:39] 4. Louis' last sunrise [1:53] 5. Goodbye to the light [4:53] 6. Getting used to killing [4:15] 7. A cursed place burns [3:48] 8. "Take her, Louis!" [6:29] 9. Claudia; "...and so shall we." [5:23] 10. Lestat's gift; one happy family [4:35] 11. "You made us what we are." [4:48] 12. "Good night, sweet prince." [4:36] 13. The trail of vulgar fictions [6:23] 14. Alive again in Paris [7:26] 15. Santiago and Armand [2:34] 16. A stage spectacle of death [2:12] 17. The source of evil [1:33] 18. A crime among us vampires [1:02] 19. Letting go? [:47] 20. The stamina for immortality [1:51] 21. A mother for Claudia [5:32] 22. A mob of the undead [4:11] 23. Burned by the light [:35] 24. Merciless revenge [1:19] 25. A lesson I don't care to learn [4:17] 26. Back to the new world [4:04] 27. The scent of death. [2:10] 28. "Do you like dying?" [2:11] 29. A passenger (Sympathy for the devil); End credits [1:57]