Interview with the Vampire

Inside its introspective yet sprawling narrative, Interview with the Vampire treats vampires not as folkloric monsters or Gothic aristocrats who corrupt traditional values, but as romantic figures of transgressive and alluring desire who subvert conventional definitions of sexuality, gender, and family. Neil Jordan’s film of Anne Rice’s vampiric bestseller brims with operatic scale while following an ambivalent, sublime protagonist—a beautiful monster who undergoes a centuries-long change. Propelled by the storyteller’s uneasy transition, the interview framing the narrative dramatizes the tension between traditionalism and postmodernism, exploring the protagonist’s resistance to his true nature. What is more, the production reimagined vampires for mainstream audiences, not only by featuring some of Hollywood’s brightest stars and most lavish production values, but also by reframing them as sympathetic, even enviable, despite their perceived transgressions. Spurring a new popularity for the vampire genre after its 1994 release, Interview with the Vampire is a searching tale about setting aside the customary modes of family and morality, and yearning for something more unique and defiantly personal.

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