The soundtrack is blaring with punk rock through the entire movie, during some of its music-free moments there is filler sounds of screaming and thunder that seem to be coming from hell and beyond. What is ultimately the most notable is deciding whether the special effects or the dialogue is cheesier in this B-grade vampire movie. Allegedly based on Anne Rice's The Vampire's Chronicles, the movie certainly raises the question on whether director Michael Rymer has ever read the source material. There is some kind of plot here, but the reckless visual style never is able to distinguish anything of storytelling clarity, especially in the final third of the movie.
Stuart Townsend plays the multi-centuries old vampire Lestat (there's a reason why Tom Cruise didn't come back), whom in the present day has become a punk rocker in effort to capture a legion of fans. This movie however is showcasing it as the feature film debut of the 22-year old singer Aaliyah, who died tragically earlier this year. By the way, it's not her feature debut, it's not even her first `starring' role either; Romeo Must Die has those honors. Some of her fans will be disappointed that she doesn't arrive with her first speaking scene until the first hour into the movie.
There is an adrenaline of excitement when Aaliyah does make her arrival which sends the screen blazing. As the 6,000-year old vampire Akaska, the late singer has an electrifying introduction, but it is too bad however that the movie's thrills are few and far between. Townsend has a few amusing scenes where he invites a couple of groupies into his private sanctuary. The groupies are hot for this punk rocker, but Lestat is hot for their blood which is fortunate because some of the nastiness does generate some chuckles.
Blood is a welcome palette of color in this movie because it is photographed in dreary, dark gray-blue tones. The scenery is often very bland, and so after awhile it becomes easy to welcome bad dialogue in order to spark some kind of amusement. Cheesy sample dialogue: `There's nothing [left] but the cold, dark wasteland of eternity,' Lestat bemuses, bored with his immortality. He thankfully has a publicist and fanfare that will encourage him with compliments like, `You're bold like your music!' A vampire scholar played by Marguerite Moreau (in need of some of Mariah Carey's acting tips) tracks down Lestat in order to learn from him, and then becomes seduced by his black charms. Unsurprisingly, there is little interest between them.
The real heat in the film exists between Lestat and Akaska, whom together momentarily resuscitate a movie in danger of flat-lining. The scenes between them, especially the ones that involve them drinking from each other's blood, are morbid but teasingly erotic. Also in this movie exists scenes of underground night clubs that patronize the vampire culture, and surprise, they are all into grunge rock. What is worse however is that much of the movie's sensationalistic scenes are filmed and edited like a bad grunge rock music video. Also, once you get past the thin and unrealized potential of the plot, there isn't much left here that will make you give a damn.
Stuart Townsend plays the multi-centuries old vampire Lestat (there's a reason why Tom Cruise didn't come back), whom in the present day has become a punk rocker in effort to capture a legion of fans. This movie however is showcasing it as the feature film debut of the 22-year old singer Aaliyah, who died tragically earlier this year. By the way, it's not her feature debut, it's not even her first `starring' role either; Romeo Must Die has those honors. Some of her fans will be disappointed that she doesn't arrive with her first speaking scene until the first hour into the movie.
There is an adrenaline of excitement when Aaliyah does make her arrival which sends the screen blazing. As the 6,000-year old vampire Akaska, the late singer has an electrifying introduction, but it is too bad however that the movie's thrills are few and far between. Townsend has a few amusing scenes where he invites a couple of groupies into his private sanctuary. The groupies are hot for this punk rocker, but Lestat is hot for their blood which is fortunate because some of the nastiness does generate some chuckles.
Blood is a welcome palette of color in this movie because it is photographed in dreary, dark gray-blue tones. The scenery is often very bland, and so after awhile it becomes easy to welcome bad dialogue in order to spark some kind of amusement. Cheesy sample dialogue: `There's nothing [left] but the cold, dark wasteland of eternity,' Lestat bemuses, bored with his immortality. He thankfully has a publicist and fanfare that will encourage him with compliments like, `You're bold like your music!' A vampire scholar played by Marguerite Moreau (in need of some of Mariah Carey's acting tips) tracks down Lestat in order to learn from him, and then becomes seduced by his black charms. Unsurprisingly, there is little interest between them.
The real heat in the film exists between Lestat and Akaska, whom together momentarily resuscitate a movie in danger of flat-lining. The scenes between them, especially the ones that involve them drinking from each other's blood, are morbid but teasingly erotic. Also in this movie exists scenes of underground night clubs that patronize the vampire culture, and surprise, they are all into grunge rock. What is worse however is that much of the movie's sensationalistic scenes are filmed and edited like a bad grunge rock music video. Also, once you get past the thin and unrealized potential of the plot, there isn't much left here that will make you give a damn.