I venture more into the Anne Rice television universe with Season 1 and 2 of Interview With The Vampire. Out now on Bluray from Acorn Media. |

As those who know me already know, im definitely more of a movie watcher than a book reader, and so I do love when a famous book is turned into a movie (or a television series) so that I can catch up on a well written story without having to struggle to find the spare time to actually read something. I do enjoy reading, I just lack the free time to do so as much as Id like. Back in the early to mid 90s I was working in the video store (that I would end up running) and would watch pretty much every film that was within those walls, Id watch the classics (although my store didnt have too many of those until I took over ownership of the business) and Id catch up with all the new films. What has this all to do with Anne Rice, and Interview With The Vampire? Well the mid 90s was when the VHS tapes of Neil Jordan’s Interview With The Vampire arrived and they rented their socks of for a long time. People loved the Tom Cruise starring movie and it made a fortune for the video store. That film was also the first experience I had with the art of Anne Rice and the stories she would create and over the years I must have seen Interview With The Vampire over a dozen times. on VHS, and eventually on DVD.

Its an excellent film if you haven’t seen it. When a television series adaptation of Anne Rice’s 1976 book was announced in the early 2020’s I was a little ‘okay but ive seen the movie’ and so the series whilst on my radar, didnt make it onto my watch list until pretty recently. Nothing against the show, it was just that my backlog of things to watch was pretty insane but thankfully due to better scheduling, and a bit more free time, I am getting that list down to a more manageable level (phew!) Also what helped was that the first two seasons of the show became available on bluray (from Acorn Media International) which means that I could spend a couple of weeks (or just over) watching an episode a night and catching up with all 15 episodes of Season 1 and Season 2, which is what I did. So how is the show? How does it compare to the 1994 film? and is it worth checking out? Well to answer the last question first. Yes Interview With The Vampire is most definitely worth checking out. The look of the show is stunning and brilliantly cinematic, Whilst it is a television show, it would also look at home in a cinema auditorium. Oh how television show production has changed over the years! So if you are fortunate enough (like me) to have a big television screen, then you are in for a visual treat.

Comparing the television show to the 1994 film is the tricky part. My advice for that is DONT. I love the 1994 film and I will admit that for the first episode of two of the show, my brain was comparing the show to the film… is Jacob Anderson as Louis better than Brad Pitt as Louis?, is Sam Reid as LeStat better than Tom Cruise? The right answer is that they are different. The movie had 2 hours to adapt the near 400 page book, whereas the television show has 15 episodes split over two seasons to adapt that same book so the series is definitely taking more time and has more time to do what it choose to do to bring this Anne Rice world to the screen again. Now even though I said that the series is taking more time, that doesnt mean the series is a slow paced show. Oh God no, its not slow paced at all, it just feels that it opens the world up far more than the Neil Jordan film could and therefor packs more action, more tension and more supernatural creepiness into the show.The show also of course is able to feature more character developments into it.

The show also does its own thing too with the expansion of the world and we get more from ‘the interviewer’ of the title. An actor who I always enjoy seeing on screen Eric Bogosian plays Daniel Malloy (played by Christian Slater in the movie) and one of the centre points of the series is as the title says ‘interview with the vampire’ Louis being the vampire and Daniel being the one hosting the interview, however in this series, its more of a second interview as we learn that in the 70s, there was a first interview between Louis and Daniel that ….lets just say didnt go the way as planned. Its with this reunion that we are led into the world that the television show Interview With The Vampire is bringing us into, and what a world it is and its not just the wor;d in Interview With The Vampire, you can also venture into the other shows in the AMC world with Mayfair Witches (which is excellent) and the limited series Talamasca: The Secret Order) which feature a little bit of character crossover from the other shows. Its certainly a fun jigsaw thats being crafted with these shows.

Its a wonderful show and once I got over that annoying ‘let me compare it to the film’ mentality that was bugging me, I was fully immersed in the show. The casting is perfect, the show looks (and sounds) glorious and of course with it being based on the huge selling book by Anne Rice, you know its a given that the story is a gripping one. Its also pretty gory when it needs to be, but isn’t gory or violent for the sake of it. The showrunners and script writers clearly love the Anne Rice world and treat it very respectfully and I cant recommend you check out all 15 episodes of Season 1/2 when you can. In this world of digital and streaming I still gravitate towards the world of physical media and the reasons for that is that I like to own what I have, but also I love checking out the special features that are on bluray and DVD sets and Interview With The Vampire comes with some great ones. Its not a huge list, but its a quality list.

Most of the features are on the Season 2 set but Season 1 has the full San Diego Comic Con panel from 2022 where the main cast, and some of the crew share their stories about making Season 1 (which was before Season 2 came out and hadnt even been made yet) I always enjoy seeing what the cast are like when they arent in the show and what comes across in this Q&A panel is just how much they seem to love doing what they do. the panel runs for just over half an hour and is definitely worth watching.

For Season 2 there’s an excellent 40 minute documentary entitled ‘Show Me More’ which will take you behind the scenes to the making of Season 2, with interviews with the cast, the crew, a look at some of the stunt work, the make up work and pretty much ever detail you could ask for in a documentary about the making of Interview With The Vampire. Show Me More I think is my high recommendation for the special features in this set. We also get ‘Episode Insiders’ which are these fun, but slightly short featurettes that focus on each episode in the series, they range from 5 minutes to 10 minutes but are fun to watch. Its an excellent package for a really good show! and a show which I do highly recommend. I also recommend you do check out Talamasca: The Secret Order and Mayfair Witches too, although its worth noting that you can watch the shows in any order you want. Start with Mayfair Witches. that’s fine, start with Interview With The Vampire, that’s fine too. Whilst they work as a growing universe, they are also their own thing. So if you were like me, thinking why do I need to watch the show, Ive already seen the movie? Think again. Even if the film is still fresh in your mind, you will still get a huge amount of enjoyment when you check out Interview With The Vampire.

Treat yourself, Invite the show into your home today.