To
be honest, QUEEN OF THE DAMNED ($27) isn't as bad as I thought
as it was going to be. It is a perfectly serviceable little vampire movie;
with a slick MTV inspired visuals and attractive people portraying the
undead characters. Of course, the movie does a complete disservice to
the works of Anne Rice, with its wholesale hacking away at her novels.
Beyond INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, Anne Rice's novels in The
Vampire Chronicles are denser and much more multi-layered works,
therefore two-hour films are incapable of doing justice to these books.
QUEEN
OF THE DAMNED not only shoehorns the title book into a one hundred
and one minute running time, it also greatly condenses vast portions of
the preceding tome- THE VAMPIRE LESTAT into the same space. Neither
book is well served by this approach; in fact, the movie almost dismisses
the novels, making them seem almost inconsequential. Personally, I think
The Vampire Chronicles should be tacked in miniseries form
for a cable network, so the violence and adult aspects of the stories
can remain in tact. If anything, THE VAMPIRE LESTAT would be best
served at eight to ten hours and QUEEN OF THE DAMNED would run
maybe four to six.
After
a century of sleeping in a tomb, The Vampire Lestat (Stuart Townsend)
is awaked by the sound of Rock music. Deciding to reinvent himself for
the modern world, Lestat becomes the front man for a rock band. The Vampire
Lestat is the perfect entity to tap into Goth Rock subculture, producing
an album and music videos that become an instant media sensation. However,
that most damnable creature Lestat uses his celebrity to give away all
the secrets of vampire society and taunts his fellow vampires to come
out from out of the shadows.
Not
only does Lestat's music draw out other vampires, who want to destroy
Lestat, it also awakens Akasha (Aaliyah), the mother of all vampires,
who has been sleeping for thousands of years. As Akasha resumes her mantle
as Queen of the Damned, she makes Lestat her consort and begins
to indulge her insatiable bloodlust that will destroy both vampire and
humankind alike. In the hands of director Michael Rymer, QUEEN OF
THE DAMNED is a stylish and attractive movie, but the screenplay is
lacking in depth, as it tries to squeeze too many ideas into a brief running
time. The cast of QUEEN OF THE DAMNED also features Marguerite
Moreau, Vincent Perez, Paul McGann, Lena Olin, Christian Manon, Claudia
Black, Bruce Spence and Matthew Newton.
Warner
Home Video has made QUEEN OF THE DAMNED available on DVD in a
2.35:1 wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement
for 16:9 displays (Warner is also releasing a separate full screen version
for those who like their movies mangled). Even though much of the movie
is dark and stylized, this is another great looking transfer from Warner.
The image is very crisp and nicely defined, bringing out the details in
the handsome production design and costumes. Colors are vibrant and fully
saturated, while flesh tones appear natural on the living characters.
Blacks are very velvety, while whites appear clean and completely stable.
Contrast is usually smooth, with occasional harsh accents. Shadow detail
is excellent, allowing one to see everything during the films predominance
of night sequences. The dual layered DVD keeps the most noticeable traces
of digital compression artifacts in check.
QUEEN
OF THE DAMNED comes with a great sounding Dolby Digital 5.1
channel soundtrack. The mix is highly atmospheric, as well as being very
directional. Sound effects whiz and pan effortlessly through the soundstage,
drawing the viewers into the vampire realm. Dialogue is very cleanly
rendered and voices register with a nice timbre. The bass channel is
solid, enhancing both sound effects and the film's music. Speaking of
music, it is an integral part of the film's story and has been mix with
a real sense of presence and reproduced with excellent fidelity. A French
5.1 channel soundtrack is also encoded onto the DVD, as have English,
French and Spanish subtitles.
Music
underscores the basic interactive menus, which provide access to the standard
scene selection and set up features as well as some supplemental materials.
Included on the DVD is a running commentary with director Michael Rymer,
producer Jorge Saralegui and composer Richard Gibbs, as well as thirteen
deleted/extended scenes- totaling thirty minutes of material. Three featurettes
are included on the DVD: Creating The Vampires runs under
ten minutes, Remembering Aaliyah clocks in at three minutes
and The Music Of Lestat runs under twelve. Three complete
Vampire Lestat music videos from the film are included, as well as
a music video for the song Cold from Static X. There are
extended concert sequences from the film that includes two full versions
of songs performed by The Vampire Lestat. Filling out the DVD
is a gag reel, theatrical trailer, still gallery, and a short text essay
on Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles.
As
a stand-alone entity, QUEEN OF THE DAMNED is an entertaining enough
vampire movie, featuring slick visuals and cool soundtrack. As an adaptation
of Anne Rice's it leaves a lot to be desired. Still, the DVD looks and
sounds great, so it may be worth your while to spend an evening with the
QUEEN OF THE DAMNED.
To
be honest, QUEEN OF THE DAMNED ($27) isn't as bad as I thought
as it was going to be. It is a perfectly serviceable little vampire movie;
with a slick MTV inspired visuals and attractive people portraying the
undead characters. Of course, the movie does a complete disservice to
the works of Anne Rice, with its wholesale hacking away at her novels.
Beyond INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, Anne Rice's novels in The
Vampire Chronicles are denser and much more multi-layered works,
therefore two-hour films are incapable of doing justice to these books. 
QUEEN
OF THE DAMNED not only shoehorns the title book into a one hundred
and one minute running time, it also greatly condenses vast portions of
the preceding tome- THE VAMPIRE LESTAT into the same space. Neither
book is well served by this approach; in fact, the movie almost dismisses
the novels, making them seem almost inconsequential. Personally, I think
The Vampire Chronicles should be tacked in miniseries form
for a cable network, so the violence and adult aspects of the stories
can remain in tact. If anything, THE VAMPIRE LESTAT would be best
served at eight to ten hours and QUEEN OF THE DAMNED would run
maybe four to six.
After
a century of sleeping in a tomb, The Vampire Lestat (Stuart Townsend)
is awaked by the sound of Rock music. Deciding to reinvent himself for
the modern world, Lestat becomes the front man for a rock band. The Vampire
Lestat is the perfect entity to tap into Goth Rock subculture, producing
an album and music videos that become an instant media sensation. However,
that most damnable creature Lestat uses his celebrity to give away all
the secrets of vampire society and taunts his fellow vampires to come
out from out of the shadows.
Not
only does Lestat's music draw out other vampires, who want to destroy
Lestat, it also awakens Akasha (Aaliyah), the mother of all vampires,
who has been sleeping for thousands of years. As Akasha resumes her mantle
as Queen of the Damned, she makes Lestat her consort and begins
to indulge her insatiable bloodlust that will destroy both vampire and
humankind alike. In the hands of director Michael Rymer, QUEEN OF
THE DAMNED is a stylish and attractive movie, but the screenplay is
lacking in depth, as it tries to squeeze too many ideas into a brief running
time. The cast of QUEEN OF THE DAMNED also features Marguerite
Moreau, Vincent Perez, Paul McGann, Lena Olin, Christian Manon, Claudia
Black, Bruce Spence and Matthew Newton.
Warner
Home Video has made 
QUEEN
OF THE DAMNED comes with a great sounding Dolby Digital 5.1
channel soundtrack. The mix is highly atmospheric, as well as being very
directional. Sound effects whiz and pan effortlessly through the soundstage,
drawing the viewers into the vampire realm. Dialogue is very cleanly
rendered and voices register with a nice timbre. The bass channel is
solid, enhancing both sound effects and the film's music. Speaking of
music, it is an integral part of the film's story and has been mix with
a real sense of presence and reproduced with excellent fidelity. A French
5.1 channel soundtrack is also encoded onto the DVD, as have English,
French and Spanish subtitles.
Music
underscores the basic interactive menus, which provide access to the standard
scene selection and set up features as well as some supplemental materials.
Included on the DVD is a running commentary with director Michael Rymer,
producer Jorge Saralegui and composer Richard Gibbs, as well as thirteen
deleted/extended scenes- totaling thirty minutes of material. Three featurettes
are included on the DVD: Creating The Vampires runs under
ten minutes, Remembering Aaliyah clocks in at three minutes
and The Music Of Lestat runs under twelve. Three complete
Vampire Lestat music videos from the film are included, as well as
a music video for the song Cold from Static X. There are
extended concert sequences from the film that includes two full versions
of songs performed by The Vampire Lestat. Filling out the DVD
is a gag reel, theatrical trailer, still gallery, and a short text essay
on Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles.
As
a stand-alone entity, QUEEN OF THE DAMNED is an entertaining enough
vampire movie, featuring slick visuals and cool soundtrack. As an adaptation
of Anne Rice's it leaves a lot to be desired. Still, the DVD looks and
sounds great, so it may be worth your while to spend an evening with the
QUEEN OF THE DAMNED.
