Queen of the Damned; King of Bad Adaptations
Is Anne Rice still a rite of passage for fledgling goth kids? The first four novels in her Vampire Chronicles series were required reading when I was in high school. I grew up idolizing the adventures of the vampire Lestat as he swaggered and mocked his way through history. My favorite book of the series was the third: 1988’s Queen of the Damned. With its exotic locations, expansive cast of characters, and epic showdown between evil and eviler, Queen of the Damned was a book I read and re-read many times.
Although the first film in The Vampire Chronicles series (1994’s Interview with the Vampire) grossed over $200 million, it was unlikely its stars would ever return for a sequel. Getting a cast like Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater, and Antonio Banderas only happens once. Besides, The Vampire Chronicles is less of an ensemble piece and more of a set of novels featuring Lestat. Other characters come and go, and only Lestat is constant. This was always going to cause trouble for Warner Bros., who acquired the rights to the Vampire Chronicles series in 1988. They were never going to get Cruise to star in subsequent movies. Cruise’s Lestat replacement, Stuart Townsend, has none of Cruise’s charisma, unfortunately. Townsend captures Lestat’s cockiness, but doesn’t exude his depth. There’s no there there. Lestat is supposed to be a larger-than-life character, but Townsend often disappears into his scenes.
Thankfully, Townsend’s co-stars manage to turn the spotlight onto themselves. Perennial sequel-star Marguerite Moreau (also of D2: The Mighty Ducks, Free Willy 2, and Firestarter 2: Rekindled) makes sure all eyes are on her as Jesse, member of the Talamasca and one of the few humans who know about Lestat’s plans. Vincent Perez also helps out. As the vampire Marius, Perez does his best as Lestat’s mopey mentor and creator.
I’m going to reserve the bulk of my praise for the titular character: Akasha, the Queen of the Damned, played to near-perfection by Aaliyah. Sadly, Aaliyah died six months before this film was released, cutting short her life and promising acting career. Aaliyah shines in every scene she’s in. Akasha’s evil and strength fills every scene, despite Aaliyah’s diminutive stature. In the right hands, her scenes could have been ever scarier, her importance better stated, her threat enhanced.
Unfortunately, there’s no time for any of that. Warner Bros. needed to get something into production by 2000, otherwise the rights would have reverted back to Rice. Rather than let the rights lapse, Warner Bros. rushed Queen of the Damned into production, a la Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four. Believing that the second novel wasn’t exciting enough, Warner Bros. opted to go full speed ahead with the third film, setting themselves up for narrative problems. While not the most exciting novel, elements of The Vampire Lestat are necessary for understanding Queen of the Damned. The third book doesn’t make sense without its predecessor telling the story of Lestat’s making, or exploring his desire for adoration.
But this means parts of The Vampire Lestat needed to be included in Queen of the Damned. Meaning the writers had to condense more than 1,000 novel pages into a single movie. It’s been done before and successfully; Scott Pilgrim vs. the World comes to mind. Here, though, the plot ends up a mess. The rich cast of characters is chopped in favor of a select few. Character introductions are missing and their subsequent deaths leave no impact on the audience. A television series might have done the characters justice (as Anne Rice once implored the studio), but without the requisite hours of screen time needed to do these characters justice, we’re left with a hollow shell of what might have been. The result is a mess; light years below the dark, gothic quality of the first film. The writers are out of their depth, and most of the actors, save for a few notable secondary characters, can’t fill the screen enough. It’s a sad eulogy to Aaliyah and a tragic end to The Vampire Chronicles on film.
But all is not lost. There are rumors of The Vampire Chronicles (all 11 books this time) in development over at Universal. I’d be happy about this, if the producers were Star Trek-botchers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Their mangling of Star Trek Into Darkness does not fill my vampire heart with hope.
Queen of the Damned tl;drs
Quick summary: Lestat shuns a vampire’s traditional place in the shadows, preferring to walk among mortals. When he becomes a famous rock star, his music awakens Akasha, the queen of all vampires.
Too many writers? Two writers condensed Anne Rice’s source material into a single movie.
Recommended if you like: Interview with the Vampire, Korn
Better than I expected? Aaliyah’s performance really is one for the ages. She shines with the little screen time she’s given.
Worse than I hoped? There’s simply not enough time to condense 1,000+ pages of source material into a 100-minute movie.
Should it be rebooted? In the right hands, a True Blood-style TV show based on The Vampire Chronicles could be pretty good. As it stands we just might get a series of new and rebooted movies in the near future.
Verdict: Decent costuming and the near-perfect casting of Aaliyah can’t save this movie from its earned 17% Rotten Tomatoes rating.
Related Reading: Wiki article
