Interview with a Vampire

As children, me and my older sister were oddly fascinated with scary story and just horror in general. Although our parents blocked most channels containing violence and sexual nature, we some how had access to a fuzzy HBO channel where we discovered Interview with a Vampire for the first time. I was about 10 but at the time but I remember watching Kirsten Dunst as a child vampire and having the desire to be just like her. Re-watching the movie recently has made me realize #1 I had really good taste in movies and #2 that movie was extremely inappropriate for little kids. I feel like this is one of the first examples of the inner struggles of vampires and how they feel about their lifestyles verses those of humans. Vampires are now seen in a completely different light rather than the in-human, blood-sucking creatures they were previously thought to be. Eternal life is seem as a curse, the vampires are constantly tormented with loneliness, compassion, moral issues and other human emotions. Claudia, the child vampire, is such an interesting and compelling character. She was transformed into a vampire at the age of 6 against her will, forever trapping her in the body of a child. Now knowing that Ann Rice herself experienced the loss of a child, I think it was extremely brave and commendable that she turned her tragedy into something brilliant. Another theme in the movie was homosexuality. Louis and Lestat turned innocent Claudia into a vampire, so essentially it is like she has two fathers. Interview with a vampire touches on countless controversial topics, sexuality, immortality, incest, death. It examines the myth of vampires and puts a totally new spin on it which has opened up the door for future vampire tales. Overall I love this movie and I wish I had time to read the full book.