Queen of the Damned (2002)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Michael Rymer

Writers (WGA):

Anne Rice (novels)
Scott Abbott (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

22 February 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Music | Fantasy

Tagline:

The Mother Of All Vampires

Plot:

The vampire Lestat becomes a rock star whose music wakes up the queen of all vampires.

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Queen | Rock Star | Gothic | Immortality

Awards:

3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 21

2:30 AM

HBO

Cast

Aaliyah	...	Queen Akasha
Stuart Townsend	...	Lestat de Lioncourt
Marguerite Moreau	...	Jessica 'Jesse' Reeves
Vincent Perez	...	Marius de Romanus
Paul McGann	...	David Talbot
Lena Olin	...	Maharet
Christian Manon	...	Mael
Claudia Black	...	Pandora
Bruce Spence	...	Khayman
Matthew Newton	...	Armand
Tiriel Mora	...	Roger
Megan Dorman	...	Maudy
Johnathan Devoy	...	James
Robert Farnham	...	Alex
Conrad Standish	...	T.C.
Richael Tanner	...	Young Jesse
Christopher Kirby	...	New York Vampire
Miguel Ayesa	...	New York Vampire
Joe Manning	...	New York Vampire
Pip Mushin	...	Guy Being Sucked
Kat Rhodes	...	Vampire Girl
Christopher Connelly	...	Mortal Yuppie
Renee De Bondt	...	Vampire Girl Sucking
Renee Quast	...	Vampire Girl Sucking
Dan Zizys	...	Vampire Doorman
Tayler Kane	...	Club Vampire
Imogen Annesley	...	Club Vampire
Daniel Schlusser	...	Club Vampire
Rowland S. Howard	...	Vampire Guitarist
Hugo Race	...	Vampire Bass Player
Robin Casinader	...	Vampire Pianist
Aimee Nash	...	Vampire Singer
Nicole Fantl	...	London Groupie
Alyssa McClelland	...	London Groupie
Marnie Reece-Wilmore	...	LA Groupie
Andrew L. Urban	...	Himself
Jo Buckley	...	French Journalist
Dino Marnika	...	Music Journalist
Kirsty Meares	...	Lifestyle Journalist
Bruce Myles	...	Talamascan
Marg Downey	...	Talamascan
John Dicks	...	Talamascan
Fouad Harraka	...	Greek Father
Mandie Vieira	...	Young Violin Player
Bobby Bright	...	Sound Engineer
Darren Wilson	...	Sound Engineer
Russell Kiefel	...	Fire Marshall
Nandila Gaskell	...	West Indian Girl
Nalishebo Gaskell	...	West Indian Girl
Tamasin Ramsay	...	Woman Victim
Michael Azria	...	VW Driver
Arroyn Lloyd	...	VW Passenger (as Arrowyn Lloyd)
Antonios Greige	...	Camel Driver
Nicki Paull	...	Flight Attendant (as Nicola Paull)
Peter Olsen	...	Enkil
Franklyn Ajaye	...	French Dealer
Duncan Myers	...	Rent Boy
Mark O'Halloran	...	Rent Boy
Twapa Kapote	...	Prostitute
Ron Bingham	...	Businessman
Strawberry Fields	...	Girl with Businessman
Bob Halsall	...	Businessman with Girl
Antony Neate	...	Euro Trash Vampire
Karoline Hohlweg	...	Euro Trash Vampire
Rochelle Ward	...	Euro Trash Vampire
Anni Finsterer	...	Euro Trash Vampire
Alistair Reid	...	Euro Trash Vampire
Suzi Dougherty	...	Pale Faced Vampire
Humphrey Bower	...	Nigel
Pia Miranda	...	Jesse's Roommate
Simon Wilton	...	Vampire in the Park
Enrico Mammarella	...	Greek Fisherman (as Enrico Mammerella)
Serena Altschul	...	Herself
Nick Gill	...	Band Member
Becky Thomas	...	Band Member
Jonathan Davis	...	Scalper
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Felicity Andersen	...	Flight Attendant (uncredited)
Leon Fleming	...	Screaming Rock Fan (uncredited)
Daniel Gardner	...	Lestat's Fan (uncredited)
Shayne Greenman	...	Band Member (uncredited)
Rashad Haughton	...	Queen Akasha (voice) (uncredited)
Nathan Hill	...	Attacking Vampire (uncredited)
Anita Marelic	...	Goth girl (uncredited)
Jet Tsui	...	Asian Vampire (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Rymer

Writing credits (WGA)
Anne Rice		(novels "The Vampire Chronicles")
Scott Abbott		(screenplay) and
Michael Petroni		(screenplay)

Produced by
Su Armstrong	....	executive producer
Bruce Berman	....	executive producer
Channing Dungey	....	co-producer
Bill Gerber	....	executive producer
Andrew Mason	....	executive producer
Jorge Saralegui	....	producer

Original Music by
Richard Gibbs

Cinematography by
Ian Baker

Film Editing by
Dany Cooper

Casting by
Gregory Apps		(as Greg Apps)
Kristy Sager

Production Design by
Graham 'Grace' Walker

Art Direction by
Tom Nursey

Set Decoration by
Brian Dusting

Costume Design by
Angus Strathie

Makeup Department
Nick Dorning	....	prosthetic supply
Nikki Gooley	....	hair styles supervisor
Nikki Gooley	....	makeup supervisor
Bob McCarron	....	special makeup effects artist
Kylie O'Toole	....	makeup artist
Shane Thomas	....	makeup artist
Simon Zanker	....	key hair stylist
Russell Sharp	....	sculptor (uncredited)

Production Management
Petra Hoebel	....	unit production manager: second unit
Sue MacKay	....	production manager
Andy Pappas	....	unit manager
Jack Schuster	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nathan Croft	....	assistant director: second unit
Todd Embling	....	third assistant director
Naomi Enfield	....	assistant director: second unit
Jason Faulkner	....	second second assistant director
Colin Fletcher	....	first assistant director
Paul Goldman	....	second unit director
Keith Heygate	....	assistant director: second unit
Jennifer Leacey	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Michael Bell	....	set designer
Fiona Donovan	....	set designer
Damien Drew	....	art director: second unit
Damien Drew	....	assistant art director
Peter Hordern	....	head greensman
Hannah Knowlton	....	assistant property master
Tim McGaw	....	props
Ross Murdoch	....	set builder
Marian Murray	....	lead set dresser
Rolland Pike	....	set dresser
John Rann	....	construction manager
Peter Savieri	....	storyboard artist
Simon Bethune	....	senior propmaker (uncredited)
Walter Sperl	....	leading hand (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gregg Barbanell	....	foley artist
Brian Best	....	supervising sound editor
Richard Burnette	....	mix facility coordinator
Robert Carr	....	sound recordist: temps and effects pre-dubs
William Cawley	....	first assistant sound editor
Patrick Cicero	....	sound assistant
Bradley Clouse	....	assistant sound editor
Chris David	....	sound re-recording mixer
Joe Divitale	....	sound effects editor
Eileen Horta	....	adr artist
Mildred Iatrou	....	dialogue editor
Shawn Kennelly	....	foley mixer
David Lee	....	production sound mixer
Steve Mann	....	sound effects editor
Michael McNerney	....	adr recordist
Gary Mundheim	....	sound effects editor
Chris Navarro	....	adr recordist
Steve Nelson	....	sound effects editor
Jay Nierenberg	....	sound effects editor
Andy Peach	....	sound recordist
Julie Pearce	....	adr recordist
Gary Raymond	....	dialogue playback
Terry Rodman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Terry Rodman	....	supervising sound editor
Philip Rogers	....	adr recordist
Cathie Speakman	....	sound editor
Eric Thompson	....	adr mixer
Nancy Tracy	....	assistant sound editor
Tim Walston	....	sound designer
Aaron D. Weisblatt	....	sound effects editor
Bernard Weiser	....	sound editor
Marshall Winn	....	dialogue editor
Martin Schloemer	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Rodney Burke	....	special effects coordinator
Patrick Carmiggelt	....	special effects technician
Aaron Cox	....	special effects technician
Brian Cox	....	special effects supervisor
Greg Dennison	....	special effects technician
Gillian Farrow	....	special effects technician
Pauline Grebert	....	special effects technician
Rob Heggie	....	special effects technician
James Howe	....	special effects technician
Cassie Pearce	....	special effects
Angelo Sahin	....	special effects onset supervisor
Angelo Sahin	....	special effects technician
Kevin Turner	....	special effects technician
Walter Van Veenendaal	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Chris Allen	....	research and development: MVFX
Patrick Ballin	....	visual effects editor
Jason Barlow	....	technical animator
Melissa Brockman	....	visual effects producer: R!OT Pictures
Kelly Bumbarger	....	digital compositor
Lindsay Burnett	....	visual effects producer: Asylum
A.J. Calomay	....	visual effects production assistant: Creo
John Cassella	....	digital artist
Robert Chapin	....	visual effects
Tony Clark	....	visual effects supervisor: Rising Sun Pictures
Tim 'Timco' Conway	....	digital integration/compositing: CREO
Matt Cordner	....	digital effects artist
Chris Crowell	....	digital compositor
Sean C. Cunningham	....	digital artist: Gray Matter Effects
Ken Dackermann	....	digital compositor
Andrea D'Amico	....	visual effects producer: R!OT Pictures
Andy Davis	....	digital compositor: Asylum
Denise Davis	....	visual effects producer
Denise Winn Davis	....	visual effects producer
John Decker	....	CG supervisor: R!OT Pictures
Jorge del Valle	....	digital effects artist
Teunis deRaat	....	character technical director
Matt Dessero	....	digital compositor
Bill Dietrich	....	research and development: MVFX
Tommy Dorsett	....	visual effects editor: R!OT Pictures
Janet L. Earl	....	visual effects coordinator
Bridgette Fahey-Goldsmith	....	assistant visual effects editor: Australia
Kirsten Fazio	....	visual effects coordinator
Deak Ferrand	....	visual effects designer/lead matte painter: R!OT Pictures
William Gammon	....	digital compositor
Robb Gardner	....	virtual background lead 3D animator
Rocco Gioffre	....	matte artist
Don Greenberg	....	digital compositor
Neil Greenberg	....	visual effects editor
Brian Hanable	....	digital effects compositor: R!OT Pictures
Sara Henschke	....	visual effects producer: Rising Sun Pictures
Darin Hilton	....	animator
Bryan Hirota	....	visual effects supervisor: MVFX
Amy Hollywood Wixson	....	visual effects producer
Joni Jacobson	....	digital compositor
Sophie Leclerc	....	visual effects producer: MVFX
Don Lee	....	digital compositor
Marcus LeVere	....	3D animator: R!OT Pictures
Andrew MacDonald	....	compositor: Creo Collective
Gray Marshall	....	visual effects supervisor: Gray Matter
Andres Martinez	....	lead virtual backgrounds
Kate McCarthy	....	visual effects coordinator
Matt McFarland	....	visual effects color timer
Gregory L. McMurry	....	visual effects supervisor
Diana Miao	....	digital artist
Sal Migliore	....	assistant colorist
Kenneth Nakada	....	matte painter: R!OT Pictures
Jaime Norman	....	visual effects coordinator
Hans Payer	....	senior CG animator: R!OT Pictures
Monty Phillips	....	digital artist
Patrick Phillips	....	visual effects
Robert E. Phillips	....	Production Assistant
Rebecca Ramsey	....	title producer: Kaleidoscope Films
Rebecca Ramsey	....	visual effects producer: Kaleidoscope Films
Ben Roberts	....	digital compositor: Rising Sun Pictures
Kurt E. Soderling	....	visual effects camera operator (as Kurt Soderling)
Tim Trumble	....	film recording technician
Bryan Whitaker	....	visual effects: Gray Matter Effects
Bob Wiatr	....	digital compositor: R!OT Pictures
Travis Baumann	....	Inferno artist (uncredited)
Brian Freisinger	....	3D modeler (uncredited)
Frank Gallego	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Fred Jimenez	....	2D technical assistant (uncredited)
Greg Juby	....	digital effects artist (uncredited)
Ken Lam	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Vincent Lavares	....	digital asset manager: Cinesite Hollywood (uncredited)
Jason Madigan	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Michael Maloney	....	digital artist: Gray Matter (uncredited)
Rob Menapace	....	motion control operator (uncredited)
Jake Morrison	....	senior Inferno artist (uncredited)
Adam Paschke	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Mark Robben	....	paint/roto artist: CREO (uncredited)
Tiffany Smith	....	visual effects associate producer (uncredited)
Mark Stetson	....	visual effects cosupervisor: R!OT Pictures (uncredited)
James D. Tittle	....	digital visual effects coordinator: Pacific Title (uncredited)
Antonio Torres	....	digital artist: checking & retouching, Cinesite (uncredited)
Stefano Trivelli	....	senior compositor: R!OT Pictures (uncredited)

Stunts
Glenn Boswell	....	stunt coordinator
Raelene Chapman	....	stunt double
Raelene Chapman	....	stunt performer
Grant Fletcher	....	stunt rigger
Harry Harris III	....	stunt driver
Lou Horvath	....	stunt rigger
Bernadette Van Gyen	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Davin Taylor	....	flying/flame stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Tov Belling	....	first assistant camera
Andrew Jerram	....	additional assistant camera
Ian Jones	....	director of photography: second unit
Leigh Mackenzie	....	camera operator
Rex Nicholson	....	director of photography: second unit
John Radel	....	assistant camera
Angelo Sartore	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Jim Sheldon	....	still photographer
Kurt E. Soderling	....	aerial director of photography
Matt Toll	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Anthony Tulloch	....	assistant chief lighting technician: second unit
Steven J. Winslow	....	camera technician: Wescam camera

Animation Department
Geoffrey Hall	....	animator

Casting Department
Terry Leonard	....	casting assistant
Terry Leonard	....	casting: New York

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Julie Barton	....	key costumer
Eliza Godman	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
David Birrell	....	first assistant editor
Megan Doneman	....	assistant film editor
Mark Ellis	....	assistant editor
Mo Henry	....	negative cutter
Kenny Marsten	....	assistant editor
Ray Neapolitan	....	assistant editor
Ian Slater	....	first assistant editor
Donna Smith	....	editing attatchment
Kurt Smith	....	color timer
Bill Daly	....	post-production executive (uncredited)

Music Department
Jordan Corngold	....	music editor
Sandy DeCrescent	....	orchestra contractor
Rich Dickerson	....	music supervisor
Robert Fernandez	....	scoring mixer
Frank Fitzpatrick	....	music supervisor
Jason Frederick	....	music scoring assistant
Matthew Hassall	....	musician: violin double, Lestat
Paul S. Henning	....	orchestrator
Will Kaplan	....	supervising music editor
Jon Kull	....	orchestrator
Patrick Russ	....	orchestrator
Warren Sherk	....	orchestrator
Steven L. Smith	....	music preparation
Anna D. Wilborn	....	assistant music editor

Transportation Department
Tim Abbatoye	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Lance Anderson	....	safety supervisor
Richard Andreoli	....	assistant to director
Amanda Brotchie	....	assistant: Michael Rymer
Mandy Butler	....	production accountant
Sam Chwat	....	dialect coach: Aaliyah
Adam Dolman	....	production secretary
Ian Evans	....	aerial helicopter pilot
Victor Fukushima	....	unit assistant
Rashad Haughton	....	voice-over: Aaliyah
Paul Kennedy	....	assistant: Su Armstrong
Fiona Landreth	....	production accountant: Australia
Nicholle Leahy	....	accounting assistant
Ben Lowe	....	location assistant
Victoria Mielewska	....	dialect coach
Tonia Pearson	....	assistant: Jorge Saralegui
Fiona Searson	....	unit publicist
Monika Stankowski	....	accounting assistant
Trudy Talbot	....	assistant accountant
Natalie van den Dungen	....	additional production assistant
Jo Weeks	....	script supervisor
Erin Lacey	....	production executive (uncredited)
Marc Wielage	....	digital film mastering (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)
• Village Roadshow Pictures (in association with)
• NPV Entertainment (in association with)
• Material
• WV Films LLC

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (2002) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox-Warner (2002) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2002) (Finland) (theatrical) (DVD) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2002) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Sogefilms S.A. (2002) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (2008) (Finland) (TV)
• Net5 (2005) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Asylum VFX (additional visual effects)
• CREO
• Composite Image Systems (CIS) (additional visual effects)
• Gray Matter FX
• Hammerhead Productions
• Kaleidoscope Film Group (additional visual effects)
• Manex Visual Effects (MVFX)
• Pacific Title Digital (additional visual effects)
• Riot
• Rising Sun Pictures (visual effects)

Other Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)  stock footage
• Casting Collective  extras casting
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  cranes and dollies
• Cinesite  digital film mastering
• Electric Avenue Films Inc.  production services: Los Angeles
• Kaleidoscope Films Group  title design: main titles
• Kita  women's choir
• Kodak Australasia  film stock
• Melbourne Film Office  filmed with the assistance of
• Pacific Title  titles and opticals
• Panavision Australia  cameras and lenses
• Real People Victoria  extras casting
• Reprise Records  soundtrack
• SoundStorm  sound editing
• Spectrum Films International  post-production facilities
• Starfood Catering  catering
• Sweet Seduction  catering
• Two Can Do  catering: second unit
• VisionsMCP  extras casting
• Warner Bros. Records  soundtrack
• Warner Sunset Records  soundtrack

Also Known As:

Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned (USA) (complete title)
Interview with the Vampire II (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for vampire violence.

Runtime:

101 min | Spain:104 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:14A | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 (nf) | Hong Kong:IIB | Italy:VM18 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #38721)

Filming Locations:

Duckboard Place, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Aaliyah's last film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Before Lestat takes his 'first' drink from Marius, while the blood (or whatever makeup or drink they used) is dripping on his chin, Lestat opens his mouth. When he does this you can clearly see that his mouth is already full of blood (or juice).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Lestat: [voiceover] There comes a time for every vampire when the idea of eternity becomes momentarily unbearable. Living in the shadows, feeding in the darkness with only your own company to keep, rots into a solitary, hollow existence. Immortality seems like a good idea...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Thicker Than Water: The Vampire Diaries Part 1 (2008)

Soundtrack:

Invitation

As a stand alone vampire flick, it's worth seeing.

Combining The Vampire Lestat and the Queen of the Damned novels into one screenplay was, ahem, damned to suffer massive story cuts because of the intricate and detailed background of a dozen or so characters involved. The amount of detail always was the strength of the Vampire Chronicles, in my opinion, and they were certainly worth the read.

That said, the question remains, without the detail and extra characters, can the basic story of Lestat's re-awakening of the Queen of all vampires be entertaining and sufficient enough to sustain itself? While I can not answer the question with a glowing appraisal, I will certainly admit that it did a decent job of combining all of the basic elements into a stand alone movie. The fact that this movie can stand on it's own without any ties to the prequel, Interview with the Vampire, is one of it's assets. You do not need any fore-knowledge of the characters, books, or prequel movie in order to watch this.

Even though it fits into it's own little package does not mean it was packed very well. There were some plot holes, some of which could have been filled by simply restoring the "Ancients" scenes that were on the dvd. I understand, as the dvd points out, that they were left out because it introduced another subplot and characters that would add unnecessary confusion. While I agree with their reasoning, I do think they should have somehow salvaged the scene so that while the introductions of the ancients would have been left out, Maharet's few lines about Akasha's reign of destruction and the vampire's responsibility should have remained. They would have added a needed sense of urgency and motivation that would have made the final confrontation with Akasha and the ancients a bit more reasonable and satisfying.

The character of Jessie is supposed to be the human link for the viewer to empathize through as they are taken into the world of vampires. In some scenes, this works adequately, but on the whole, Jessie's motivations, while they are explained, seem kind of empty. I am not sure if I can fault the actress or script, but when the movie was over, I still felt ambivalent about the character's experiences.

There were other elements that were not as fleshed out as they could be. The paranormal Talamasca needed a bit more background about their vampire tracking as did the character of Maharet and her family tree. Like Jessie, they were given some explanation, but I think a couple more lines of dialogue would have helped.

As I mentioned, the movie did a decent job of the basic story, but massive changes were made from the source material. Characters were dropped completely, or merged together, and huge sections of character history were removed. Most notably, Lestat's history is extremely compacted and revised. Nonetheless, there are some things that remained that I thought were done pretty well. The character of Lestat in this picture is rebellious and reckless which is more true to the character than he was portrayed in Interview. Lestat's re-awakening and concert scenes were exactly like I had envisioned when I originally read the book. The character of Akasha was also as I pictured and a very good casting choice.

If you are a fan of the books, and you need the twins, Gabriel, Magnus, and crew, you are going to have difficulty sitting through this. If, on the other hand, you can set that aside and view this as a vampire movie of it's own, unrelated to the chronicles, you will probably enjoy this for the stand-alone vampire flick that it is.

In summary, worth the rental.