Queen of the Damned

I'm notorious among my loved ones for my love of movies that most people wouldn't like. I'm blessed with a gift to appreciate them, I guess. And I'm also blessed with the ability to take movies as totally separate from their book counterparts. Die hard Ann Rice fans might not like this movie because it slams two books (The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned) into one to make a relatively short film. So, obviously, a lot of the story was changed or left out. Which makes it understandable why some were upset. I mean, come on, Interview With the Vampire was over two hours long, and it was the movie version of just one book.

However, taken as it's own story, the movie is actually very good. Well, in my opinion. Stuart Townsend's portrayal of Lestat is wonderful. And it doesn't hurt that he takes off his shirt quite a bit (he has a really nice, defined, if lean, body) and wears leather pants quite a bit. He also has the rock star quality that is often missing when most actors play musicians. You can see how into the music he is. He also is able to project Lestat's arrogance and loneliness very well.

Vincent Perez, who plays Marius, also does a wonderful job. Though quite popular in Europe, he is sadly under-appreciated in the U.S. I can't honestly say that his portrayal was dead on (so to speak) because I haven't read any of the books the character appears in, but I thought he was quite good. (Another one that is good-looking, ladies.)

Akasha, unfortunately, displays very few emotions, so Aaliyah didn't get a chance to really showcase her acting talents in her final performance, but she did play the evil vampire convincingly. Since she was said to be quite pleasant in real life, I'd say her performance was excellent.

Most of the remaining cast were also enjoyable, if not impressive in their performances.

There are also interesting special effects.

I loved this movie.

If nothing else, you should at least check out the soundtrack. The songs are well penned and preformed by a number of talented musicians. My advice? At least give this movie a chance. Despite the bad reviews, you may find yourself pleasantly surprised.

As a fan of the novels and the movie Interview with a Vampire, I spent a good half hour yelling at the screen before realizing the following:

1. These are not Anne Rice's vampires. Every character is different, despite their names (The only one to nail a character was Vincent Perez, the highlight of the movie as Marius. Good job.)

2. The plot of the movie is not based on the books. It as if someone picked up a copy of The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned, opened to random pages, made assumptions, got bored and stopped reading, then wrote a screenplay.

3. The vampiric rules adhered to in the books are not followed in the movie. The vampires just do whatever is coolest. A certain vampire can't fly? Why not? And why not give him a trail?

Once you have acknowledged all these things, you can watch the movie. Have fun. This is not heavy stuff like Interview with the Vampire. Watch Stuart Townsend dance around in a mesh shirt and tight pants, and applaud when his shirt disappears, or, if you like it better, watch Aaliyah gyrate in a scanty metal bra contraption. It's what these two do best.

Embrace its plot holes and stupid dialog (which lends itself to random quoting), sing along to the entertaining rock songs. Try and figure out what each of the ancients are named. Pride yourself if you can provide any explanation for what happens at the end of the movie, because "trimming to help the pace" leaves the ending fairly incomprehensible, especially to those who have read the books.

Be sure to watch the extra features, the gag reel for laughs and the deleted scenes if you want to know what happened in the movie. Also try the various documentaries, which are entertaining when they throw in weird special effects while people are speaking.

Perfect for a loud, popcorn-filled Friday night with the friends!

Prindora (Eibzesii)

This might have been a good movie it they hadn't of associated it with the book. Any reader of the Vampire Chronicles knows what I mean. They changed so much of the story that they will be unable to make any of the other books into movies without changing them completely also or remaking this one.

They totally trivalized the debate between Akasha and her 'children'.

Marius (who did not make Lestat btw) in the chronicles is the great reasoner of the Vampires. In the book he had a long argument for Akasha. In the movie all he says to her is "Akasha, please". He was never jealous of Lestat drinking from Akasha (he himself had many many times) and didn't try to hide Enkil and Akasha from Lestat. They turned the Vampires from sad and beautiful creatures of the night who only kill the evil-doer into blood hungry wanna-bes who eat whatever mortal wanders by. Maharet's twin, Mekare, isn't even in the story. Mekare crawling out of the jungles after thousands of years, insane and single minded, to fufill the curse she spoke to Akasha in her court in ancient times was a major plot point. Anyway, my point is that a very well thought-out and seductive story was turned into a joke of a movie. Honestly, don't bother seeing the movie, read the book.

Ok, so this is not a brilliant movie. Its not even a very good movie. But it is a bit of a guilty pleasure. Kind of half vampire movie, half rock video.

The reason I like Queen of the Damned? Stuart Townsend as Lestat - he is utterly beautiful in this film. Sexy, seductive, with model-looks. The man looks the part and he plays the part very well too. You can understand why characters are seduced by him. He totally oozes that kind of sexy rockstar charm.

I know the movie is literally nothing like the novel, and it garnered a LOT of criticism for that, as well as it generally not being a particularly great movie even if you treat it as stand-alone.

I tend to put this movie on when I fancy watching something a little silly that doesn't require an awful lot of thinking about. Its kind of early 2000s trash at its finest.

I honestly did like "Queen of the Damned", despite it going on more of a MTV twist and not being faithful to the novels, come on. It was just a good movie for horror fans. I felt that it had good ideas and worked pretty well. With some new coming actors and a sexy performance of Aaliyah, the film really couldn't go wrong.

We have a new Lestat, Stewart Townsend, who is just now starting to be more noticed from his last film with Kate Hudsen "About Adam". A lot of people were disappointed that Tom Cruise did not reprise his role, but to be honest as much as Tom did a great job, he couldn't have fit this time into the Rock -N- Roll Lestat. Stewart captured that sexiness and that sleek look of cockiness that was just perfect. All though yes, I didn't really like the romantic side the director took on him, he's still one of our favorite vampires.

Aaliyah, no, she didn't have the look of Akasha, Queen of all that is damned. But she did a good job and was so incredibly beautiful. Her tragic death had just happened before they released "Queen of the Damend" into theaters, RIP! This movie captured her beauty and talent very well. She was so sleek and just sexy during her dancing scene in the pub with the other vamps before her massacre.

There was one very bothersome actress, the one who played Jesse. She did so badly! Her lines, were, she just... gah! She was horrible, you'll have to trust me on that. Otherwise, I think you'll enjoy it, please! Don't compare the book, I like to say to people that if you want the book, read the book. This is a movie and it's not always going to be faithful, it just wanted a hipper look for a younger audience. Yes, of course the books are better, but if you're just looking for a fun horror flick, I'd recommend.

8/10