film

Interview with the Vampire, which was adapted for the screen by Neil Jordan in 1994, is a luxuriant gothic fantasy that reimagines the vampire myth as an existential tragedy. Brad Pitt plays Louis, a New Orleans plantation owner turned vampire, who recounts his life to a journalist (Christian Slater). His story begins with the arrival of the charismatic and unpredictable Lestat (Tom Cruise), who transforms Louis into an immortal creature of the night. Their uneasy relationship takes another turn with the introduction of Claudia (Kirsten Dunst), a child vampire trapped forever in a young girl’s body.

Part horror, part period drama and part meditation on loneliness, morality and the nature of humanity, Jordan’s film is exquisitely atmospheric and moves between the pre-Civil War South, 19th-century Paris and the modern day. A lavish, seductive adaptation of Rice’s bestselling novel with a wish-list cast.