Over the span of four decades, the template and tone set by Twilight and The Vampire Diaries have heavily influenced various aspects of vampire narratives, reshaping them into popular stories about tormented and passionate blood-sucking creatures, reminiscent of Anne Rice’s works.
The stories about the undead, aimed at making terrifying vampires to laugh at or torment, in Rice’s saga have inspired countless attempts to create similar versions in both the series and movie of What We Do in the Shadows. At the same time, they try to show something like 30 Days of Night.
What is most intriguing about AMC’s adaptation of Rice’s influential novel Interview With the Vampire is the impression that series creator Rolin Jones (known for HBO’s Perry Mason) is attempting to strike a balance – presenting fans with a version of Louis and Lestat that they will be familiar with, while also refining some of Rice’s more humid writing.
I thoroughly enjoyed the way this Interview solidified the source material’s central relationship, refined some of its more humorous aspects, and delved deeply into the campiness of others. Throughout the first five episodes of the season, I appreciated how it balanced horror and melodrama, similar to Dracula’s Bram Stoker, the genre’s progenitors. However, some viewers may find it unsettling or even scary, especially those who prefer more extreme or perfectly executed undead dramas.
Unlike the scripted feature adaptation of the book, which maintains the shape of the specifics very few, the device framing the interview conducted by Daniel Malloy, an aging gonzo journalist, introduces us to Louis Anderson, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who has professionally gone fallow and disappears to Dubai, presumably chosen as an isolated place where money can make your past disappear. In the interview, Daniel jumps when Louis summons him, so professionally gone has Daniel gone.
This series can be seen as a sequel, at least in terms of unreliable narrators, or a critique of them. “The boy” in Rice’s book hardly resembles Daniel since he has very little in common with the version of his life story that Louis is now prepared to tell, as recounted once.
Louis’ story begins in New Orleans in 1910, where he is still grieving the loss of his late father and trying to live up to his mother’s expectations. He is aware that accepting his sexuality might make him a permanent outcast, but he remains an outsider, protecting his unstable and disturbed brother, Steven, while navigating a certain level of success as the proprietor of a fairly successful brothel in the city.
Attracted by that as well, until Louis becomes, the fact that Lestat is a vampire is secondary, at least for a while. The entrenched New Orleans establishment would never allow, Lestat represents something that Louis desires and knows the advantages of whiteness and self-fulfillment, but it’s also conveyed that, with his unconventional identities, Lestat and Louis embrace. I’ve been able to comprehend the relationship between Lestat and Louis, it’s partly that Jones and early director Alan Taylor can simply let. I can count, and this is the most evidently, captivating and confident and absolutely ravenous in his appetites, enter Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid).
Bass Bailey (Claudia’s teenage addition to the clan to expand their decision, which is ill-considered, until Lestat and Louis make — followed by more traditional 40-ish-minute episodes, the pilot reaches a similar point after a couple of hours — the series instantly becomes almost a slog and the movie in his early newfound immortality grows dissatisfaction and being marginalized and overlooked as a man of color in early 20th-century New Orleans is not happy. At least Louis’ ever-growing misery or wanting to wallow endlessly in their misery is not the same as wanting to wallow endlessly in their misery, Louis and Lestat do not feel the same connection and understanding.
English Rewrite: Just when you think that the ongoing series can’t employ an actress who embodies a character going through puberty partway, Claudia’s portrayal in the movie and book adaptation of “Interview with the Vampire” comes along. She’s able to accept the practical realities of aging behind the scenes, making it necessary for her to play a semi-necessary adult role. Maybe she’s around 14 years old, but Anderson’s interpretation of Claudia is so different from the misery-inducing baby vampire, and Dunst’s performance as Claudia is magnificently unhinged and preternaturally funny. It’s like an adrenaline shot for AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” film, finally elevating the arrival of Bass’ Claudia as an amusing and feral character.
The series still finds poignancy in Claudia’s trapped dilemma as a woman in a blended family, resonating wide-ranging influence from the retroactive and clear influence coming from In One Right, which is getting its own TV show on Showtime.
I frequently think about why you choose your material source, man, and sometimes I chuckle wryly. The series sometimes makes viewers who prefer to simply get caught up in the yarn feel inferior or at least show a sense of superiority, but it also has moments that make the series feel meta and clever by puncturing rhetorical flourishes. The host sometimes conflates his own story with the story of his first yarn and his coming-out story, which is honored as a guest in Louis’ opulent Middle East high-rise. Daniel is both a honored guest and a prisoner, adding an ironic distance to the series. Louis, a seasoned and cynical professional interrogator, doesn’t take things too seriously but also takes them seriously enough to not make the ongoing Vampire With Interview campaign a farce and silliness. The subtext works better when laced with farce and silliness.
Intentional always not might (but intentional probably are giggles evoke to enough extreme sexuality butt-bared floating or gore over-the-top of burst a get you bayou the in dip simmering like feel should adaptation Rice strict a and chilly too becoming of verge the on is Vampire the with Interview think you time Any viewers most satisfy to violence vicious and blood viscous of elements enough are there but gateway the just the are vampires the and Storyville of fall the about story a do soon as just would Jones that sense can You photography sumptuous Tattersall’s David and costumes impeccable Cutshall’s Carol design production detailed Lepere-Schloop’s Mara in through come period the of fissures societal and style the for appreciation their and resumés their Empire Boardwalk have Taylor and Jones admire to there always are pleasures technical ample series’ the the Luckily,Output: Luckily, the adaptation of Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, The Interview with the Vampire, aims to evoke extreme sexuality and gore through intentional but possibly giggles-inducing scenes. The story takes place in the bayou, where the vampires float in a simmering and butt-bared manner, resembling a burst of over-the-top and gore-filled moments. Despite the chilly and strict nature of the adaptation, it should satisfy most viewers who seek vicious violence and viscous blood elements. The vampires serve as a gateway to the Storyville’s fall, and Jones can soon expect a sense of satisfaction from the story. Through sumptuous photography by Tattersall’s David and impeccable costumes by Cutshall’s Carol, the production design by Lepere-Schloop’s Mara effectively captures the period’s societal fissures and style. Taylor and Jones, who appreciate technical pleasures, will always admire the ample resumés of Empire Boardwalk.
The New Orleans’ establishment embodies a racist and condescending alderman, John DiMaggio, who comes from a supportive background of voice-acting and Norfleet Chong. Strong support comes from Bass and Bogosian, where there is a toxic coupling that immediately sells if you don’t buy into it. They have exactly enough chemistry to sell the dangerous and snarky environment. Anderson convincingly looks ready to do a Nosferatu-themed perfume ad, offering a solid cast with grounding and exuberance.
Meanwhile, in this COVID-era narrative that has been closely associated with AIDS, I would also appreciate a greater exploration of vampirism as a metaphor. It is expected that there may be some ongoing disorder when mixing different genres in this manner. Depending on the length of the series, it may need to fully embrace or partially distance itself from the source material in order to establish a tone akin to Interview With the Vampire. All in all, there are numerous intriguing aspects to contemplate, making it a promising beginning.
