Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, Eric Bogosian, Assad Zaman, Bailey Bass, Kalyne Coleman, Chris Stack, Christian Robinson, Rae Dawn Chong, Maura Grace Athari, Roxane Duran, John DiMaggio, Jeff Pope, Dana Gourrier, Rachel Alana Handler, Rudy Eisenzopf, Kyle Roussel.

There is a difference between glitz and style, one not often noted upon when there is money thrown at glitz as if it were the smart prospect in the room because it has the big name behind it, bravado mistaken for confidence, arrogance confused with grace, and one that can be the ruin of a franchise before it even starts; for in humility the viewer immersed in a series created on the back of one of the best selling books of all time will be enthralled and not overwrought with the smell of perfume disguising the smell of rotten meat.

To compare two versions adapted from the same source can be problematic, especially if diffused by time and vision, and yet there can be surely no argument that the television series adaption of Anne Rice’s glorious novel, Interview With The Vampire, is sumptuous, extravagant in detail, fulfilling the point of the queer elements to be found laced throughout the entire book range, and leaves it rather sterile cinematic companion from 1994 bailing out water from the wreckage of expectation.

With the passing of Anne Rice in 2021, it is unknown how the author would have viewed this seven-part series, but it should be hoped that it would have received a ringing endorsement for its demonstration of understanding the nature of one of the more powerful aspects of the novel, that of New Orleans and the underlying tension of racial overtones that dominated the city at the turn of the last century.

By placing the spectacular British actor Jacob Anderson in the role of Louis de Pointe du Lac, and pairing him with rising star Sam Reid, already turning heads in the tremendous series The Newsreader as the enigmatic and powerful Lestat de Lioncourt, the team behind this adaption have scored heavily in favour, less cinematic dogma, more insightful sensuality that is unafraid to push the boundary and perhaps offer the viewer a reminder of the lure of performances such as Christopher Lee…magnetic, charismatic, mesmeric, and Sam Reid enthuses that in the role with fascinating intrigue.

What also makes the drama so alluring is that in which it is willing to alter a major part of the tale, of replacing youth with experience in the part of journalist Daniel Malloy, moving on seamlessly from its original 1970s setting and showing the man to be more vulnerable to the passing of time, and in Eric Bogosian’s performance there is an ache of anger that flows through the part with unlimited brilliance.

With a scintillating reading of the role of the child vampire Claudia by Bailey Bass adding further tension to the drama, Interview With The Vampire latest release is one that the readers of the titanic series of books have been calling for in the millions.

A compelling and beautiful adaptation, proving that style can be edgy, that it does not have to be immersed in glamour to sell.

Ian D. Hall