Queen of the Damned (film)

From AwardAnnals

Reviews

Amazon.com

Queen of the Damned combines the plot elements from the two disappointing novels Anne Rice cranked out as the sequels to Interview with the Vampire and contrives to be better than the book it is named after, but not by much. The vampire Lestat (a pale, pretty Stuart Townsend) awakens after a century-long nap and discovers flamboyant metal music, then irritates the vampire community by “coming out” and courting celebrities. His sub-Marilyn Manson songs interest paranormal-watching human librarian Jesse (Marguerite Moreau), who looks him up in a Mile End Goth club that caters for an undead clientele, but his tunes also awaken Akasha (Aaliyah), eponymous mother of all vampires, who makes him her number one disciple and sets about devastating the world, opposed by a cadre of conservative vampires who include Lestat’s sire Marius (Vincent Perez) and Jesse’s Aunt Maharet (Lena Olin).

The plot is of the “one-damn-thing-after-another” variety, zipping about the world from New Orleans to Glastonbury to a huge concert in Death Valley as broody characters exchange solemn but comical dialogue and indulge in fight scenes too swift for the camera to catch. Like Blade 2, it offers some spectacular vampire combustions, but its romance is strictly 15-certificate blood-nuzzling and it’s hard to take Lestat himself seriously when Townsend plays him as such a feckless twit. —Kim Newman

Barnes and Noble

Sex, blood, and rock ‘n’ roll reign in Queen of the Damned, a stylish adaptation of books two and three in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles series. Trading in the Southern Gothic of Interview with the Vampire, the first Rice horror adaptation, for a modern-day story, Queen follows the vampire Lestat (Stuart Townsend) as he is roused from a centuries-long hibernation to become a rock star—only to awaken an ancient and dangerous Egyptian vampire queen Akasha (Aaliyah). Extensive flashbacks tell of Lestat’s previous nascence as a vampire, and a serious love story unfolds between him and an admiring mortal (Marguerite Moreau). Nothing is understated in Queen of the Damned: Costumes, makeup, and sets are flamboyantly gothic; tattoos and body-piercings abound. But the real fun is watching Lestat as a contemporary idol, from his slickly produced music videos to a blow-out concert in Death Valley. Townsend dons the rock-star mantle rather well, strutting across the stage with a poise fueled by fame and adulation. Meanwhile, Aaliyah handles her role with real confidence, dominating her scenes with an exotic erotica. Fans of Rice’s novels may find the books’ elaborately conceived mythology a bit simplified, but what remains is faithful to the spirit of the author’s vision. The result is a film that indulges in dark, sexy fantasies with a kind of unabashed glee that is hard to resist. Gregory Baird

Related works

Queen of the Damned: Music from the Motion Picture

Jonathan Davis, Richard Gibbs, Various Artists

Befitting the film’s hip goth vibe, its accompanying soundtrack is suitably dark and sexy, with a strong mix of new songs and nü-metal hits. In an interesting move, Korn frontman Jonathan Davis collaborated with composer (and former Oingo Boingo keyboardist) Richard Gibbs on 5 of the CD’s 14 tracks, though Davis doesn’t sing his songs. Instead, taking those duties are Static-X’s Wayne Static on “Not Meant for Me,” Disturbed’s David Draiman on “Forsaken,” Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington on “System,” Marilyn Manson on “Redeemer,” and Orgy’s Jay Gordon on “Slept So…

The Queen of the Damned: Book 3 of the Vampire Chronicles

Anne Rice

• 1988 Stoker–Novel nominee
• Score: 6.38

In 1976, a uniquely seductive world of vampires was unveiled in the now-classic Interview with the Vampire…in 1985, a wild and voluptous voice spoke to us, telling the story of The Vampire Lestat. In The Queen of the Damned, Anne Rice continues her extraordinary “Vampire Chronicles” in a feat of mesmeric storytelling, a chillingly hypnotic entertainment in which the oldest and most powerful forces of the night are unleashed on an unsuspecting world.

Three brilliantly colored narrative threads intertwine as the story unfolds:

• The rock star known as Vampire Lestat, worshipped by millions of spellbound fans, prepares for a concert in San Francisco. Among the audience—pilgrims in a blind swoon of adoration—are hundreds of vampires, creatures who see Lestat as a “greedy fiend risking the secret prosperity of all his kind just to be loved and seen by mortals,” fiends themselves who hate Lestat’s power and who are determined to destroy him…

• The sleep of certain men and women—vampires and mortals scattered around the world—is haunted by a vivid, mysterious…