Hey guys! Guess what I just finished watching!
That's right. Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire series on AMC. And oh my gods was it good.
I'm pretty sure Ryan (go follow him on Twitter) is still shocked that I watched something in a timely manner instead of waiting six months.
Let me start off by saying that while I have many issues with both the Interview with the Vampire and Queen of the Damned movies, I do enjoy both of them. And I have felt for years that the Vampire Chronicles would make for a better TV show than a movie. There are too many things in those books for a movie.
Now, for the show.
Oh. Spoilers ahead for both the show and the book. Maybe the movie as well.
Also:
Warnings:
This show contains blood, death, suicide, self-harm, nudity, murder, abusive relationships, violence, sexual situations, gore, racism, and probably a few things I forgot.
I was excited for the show, but not overly excited. Especially when I heard about some changes they were making. I wasn't sure if it was going to work out or not. But, my fears were unfounded because the changes they made worked out great in my opinion.
For those unaware, the whole basis of Interview with the Vampire is that Louis de Pointe du Lac is a vampire and he meets Daniel Molloy, a reporter, and tells his life story.
The show takes place after that. Louis had given his first interview and angrily left Daniel when he asked to be turned into a vampire. And then, Louis wants a re-do. So Daniel meets Louis again, and Louis tells his story. Again.
Louis's story starts in 1910. He is a gay, creole man living in New Orleans. He catches the attention of a white French man, Lestat de Lioncourt. Spoiler, Lestat is a vampire.
Louis and Lestat have a little love affair before Louis begins to distance himself. But then, Louis's brother Paul dies. Louis goes to church to confess his sins, but Lestat is like, "Hey, how about we not do that. Instead, I will turn you into a vampire." And Louis is like "'Kay."
Okay. There was a lot more blood during that, but that is basically what happens.
The two vampires continue with their (frankly unhealthy) relationship for a while. At one point, bringing in Claudia, a teenage girl that Louis treated like a daughter.
That's all I'm going to say about the plot. Watch the show. Seriously. It was good. So fucking good.
As I said before, they changed quite a bit for the show. One being Louis is a black man. Which works considering other changes they made. Didn't take anything away from the story. Gave a bit more to it, if you ask me.
Claudia is older than she was in the book, which is good. Claudia in the book was five. In the show, she is 14. That change works very well. And Claudia got more depth and more story focused on just herself instead of who she is in relation to Louis and Lestat.
They also changed the time period of the show. In the book, the start of Louis's story was in 1791. In the show, it began in 1910. I liked this change as well.
One big omission from the book the show made was Lestat's father. He wasn't in the movie, either. But he was in the book. And it is an omission I never had an issue with. The old man didn't bring a lot to the story.
Each episode has scenes that take place in the present day of Daniel and Louis talking. Which were really interesting.
All in all, I liked the changes they made. They worked. Didn't pull anything away from the original story. I don't mind changes in adaptations, really. Makes it more interesting and exciting to watch sometimes. As long as the changes are good and don't change the overall original story. Like, if they changed Louis's race for the show, but kept the same time period and have him still be a plantation owner? No. Bad change. But, they changed his race, changed the time period, and his occupation and it all worked out pretty well in my opinion.
And there were quite a few little bits for the fans of the Vampire Chronicles to catch and go "ooooooo!" Which were super fun. Which, I need to read those books again.
The show was great all around.
The costumes looked authentic enough. Not 100% sure how authentic they actually were. Need to work on my fashion history skills.
The humor was fucking fantastic. I did not expect to laugh during this show, and I was hysterically laughing at least once per episode. And none of the humor felt forced. I always enjoy a bit of comedy with my drama, so good job to the writers for giving me that.
I did have one major issue.
Those vampires were messy as fuck when they ate. Come on guys. You wasted more blood than you drank. No wonder you had to kill so many people. You got maybe two sips out of each person. Do better.
Oh. One more thing. Louis and Lestat are in a romantic relationship. I know this. Pretty much everyone I ever discussed the book with know this. Anne Rice confirmed they were lovers. The only thing this show changed in their relationship is that it is mentioned and talked about and shown. So if you don't like that, don't watch the show. Also, what the fuck are you doing on my blog? The vampires having sex in this show is a little odd since aside from a brief thing in the Pandora book, they don't do that in the books. But hey, sex sells. I'm not even a little mad that the show made the vampires horny as fuck. Still a little mad about how messy they eat though. Dear gods...
Oh. And one last thing. Armand is pretty. I am so happy to see my baby looking so pretty. Not that Antonio Banderas is an unattractive man, but he was just not Armand to me. And while this actor isn't a 15-year-old boy with auburn curls, I am happy with him. Can't wait for more Armand.
The show only covered the first half of the book, so I cannot wait for more. I need more. Give me more AMC.
That's all for this week. See y'all next Wednesday 👋🏻
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