Queen of the Damned (2002)

Director:

Michael Rymer

Writers (WGA):

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

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 | Fame | Groupie

Awards:

3 nominations

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.

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:

Author of the novel Anne Rice considers this to be a terrible disappointment for her and for many of the readers.

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

Damned good fun

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)