Interview with the Vampire (1994)

"Interview with the Vampire" is the well known film adaptation of the novel written by Anne Rice. The film was directed by Neil Jordan (who also directed  "In the Company of Wolves") and stars Tom Cruise and a young Brad Pitt as the vampires that the story revolves around. The casting of Cruise as the vampire Lestat brought attention to the film before it's release, with a good deal of commotion coming from Anne Rice herself. Although after viewing the film, Rice was sold and satisfied with Cruise's performance. The movie itself is beautiful to watch and is full of time period sets of New Orleans and and Paris. I have never read the book so I am unable to make any comparisons between the two works.

"Interview" is about the retelling of the life and after-life of the vampire Louis to a reporter in a hotel room one night. Louis describes how his mortal life fell apart in 1791, Louisiana when his wife and child died, and how he lost all will to live and wanted to die. His wish for death was answered by the vampire Lestat, who at the last moment offered Louis the choice for eternal life, the "choice that I was never given" as Lestat is fond of saying. Lestat joins Louis at his plantation and begins introducing Louis to the lifestyle of a vampire. Louis finds that he's stronger, his senses are clearer, and that he has to live off of blood. He refuses to feast off of people, deciding to stick to small animals as much as he can. Louis is disappointed but knows that his young friend will eventually come around. When Louis finally breaks, he takes a small child whose family has died of a plague. Lestat is delighted and turns the child into a vampire as a kind of gift to Louis. Now the little Claudia joins the two and they form a small, odd little family. But Claudia is devious and convinces Louis to help her kill Lestat. The two turn on their "creator" and then travel the world to find others like them. What they find isn't exactly what they were hoping for....

Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)

“Tales From the Darkside: The Movie” is a fun anthology that has three great acts that are connected together with a cute “Hansel and Gretel” style story about a boy who is biding his time from the evil witch that wants to cook him as the main course for a dinner party. What’s noticeable about this film is that the cast consisted of some established actors as well as a few who were just cutting their teeth and have risen to stardom since then such as Steve Buscemi and Julianne Moore. The make-up and special effects are fine considering when this film was made although the gargoyles in the third act look too much like puppets to be effectively scary.

The first story arc is an adaption of Author Conan Doyle’s story “Lot 249” about a graduate student (Steve Buscemi) who uses a mummy to exact revenge against those who have wronged him.

The second story arc is an adaption of Stephen King’s short story “The Cat from Hell” about a hit man who is hired by an eccentric owner of a pharmaceutical company who is being terrorized by a black cat.

The third story arc is an adaption of an old Japanese ghost legend Yuki-Onna, about a painter who witnesses a gargoyle murdering a human. The gargoyle is about to kill the painter but spares his life, making him promise to never tell anyone about this moment; if he ever breaks the promise, the gargoyle will find him and kill him. The painter promises but how long can he keep this secret?

The witch and her dinner

The Gargoyle and the painter