5 stars out of 5 = Masterpiece

Elegant, sophisticated, beautifully scripted, acted, paced, & filmed, "Interview with the Vampire" is among my top five favorite Vampire movies. No other Vampire film, other than Gary Oldman's Oscar worthy performance in "Bram Stoker's Dracula," delves as deep in a character study of Vampires & how it would be like to be a Vampire from their point of view.

A broad 200 year perspective of the life of Brad Pitts Vampire character, "Louie," the reluctant Vampire who finally succumbs to his fate of feeding on human blood, & in his quest for enlightenment of what he is, he finds out, if anything, he is a Vampire.

The story of a surprisingly great performance of Tom Cruise's, "Lestat," who sees "the dark gift" as everything he could ever want, except companionship, what he wants the most, & realizes the least. Cruise steals the show in his glee for sucking the blood out of the living, & his indignation for turning "Louie" in to a Vampire that still has respect for human life, in a barrage of cold blooded murders, & ranting at "Louie" with black comedic hilarity, yet shocking indifference to life, to the point of sadomasochism . Also, a very young Kristen Dunst's, "Claudia", who also steals the show & matches Lestat bite for bite in the quest for blood, & the sport it brings. A hugely great & complicated performance for such a young girl!

"Interview with the Vampire" is a thinking man's horror film, one that reaches down deep, not just to bring you cheap scares & shallow predictable characters, but a rich tapestry of what it means to be a Vampire, & all the consequences that goes with it.