Laci and Matt revisit Interview With The Vampire (1994), a movie the podcast covered back in 2018, in the Old Testament days. Much more care and attention is given this time, because there’s so much to love… and so much to be confused by.

Has a movie ever been dragged down so much by its whiny-baby lead character as this movie is by Louis (Brad Pitt)? Rather than spending eternity partying with his good buddy Lestat (Tom Cruise), he just putters around and around, moaning and complaining like some unholy combination of Charlie Brown and Eeyore. And rest assured, he will tell you, at length, about how conflicted he feels about the whole “vampire” thing. So get ready.

Other than that, the movie’s a blast. Tom Cruise is wonderful, Kirsten Dunst gives an all-time great kid performance, and the Stan Winston makeup can’t be beat.

Next week: We read from the book of Saw (2004) with our friends HFK and Spooky T!

Out now on the Patreon: Matt and Austin Proctor from the Frightmares podcast discuss David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive https://bit.ly/3VCImop 

Time stamps:

• 00:03:04 — Opening thoughts on Interview with the Vampire
• 00:16:30 — History segment: The career of Anne Rice; development of a movie adaptation of Interview with the Vampire; Rice’s feud with the production over the casting of Tom Cruise; reception and legacy of The Vampire Chronicles on film
• 01:00:50 — Movie discussion
• 02:31:47 — Final thoughts and star ratings

Sources:

• "Anne Rice: The Extended 1995 Interview" by Mikal Gilmore | Rolling Stone (1995) - https://bit.ly/3Wf0ODH 
• “You Asked, Anne Answered — ‘How is it that your birth name was Howard Allen?’” - https://bit.ly/4n1ycJj 
• “Interview with a Vampire director Neil Jordan: I had a great time making this movie, but there's a dark Catholic guilt underneath” by Una Brankin | The Belfast Telegraph (2014) -  https://bit.ly/3IL8BWN 
• “The Anne Rice Reader” edited by Katherine Ramsland (1997)  - https://amzn.to/4nXlxrB 
• “A look inside Hollywood and the movies: Interview With the Vampire’s Picky Creator” by Elaine Dutka | Los Angeles Times (1993) - https://lat.ms/4q2W4yS 
• Cruise's Vampire Turns Off Oprah - She Walks Out | The Orlando Sentinel (1994) - https://bit.ly/3W2P4Et 

Artwork by Laci Roth.

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:

• “Your Ambition” - https://youtu.be/ZHudVTCkrQY
• “Winston-Salem” - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM
• “Snake Drama” - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg
• “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ 

Follow the show! 

• Twitter: @LoadBearingPod | @MattStokes9 | @LRothConcepts
• Instagram: @loadbearingbeams
• TikTok: @load.bearing.beams | @mattstokes9
• Letterboxd: @loadbearinglaci | @mattstokes9
• Bluesky: @loadbearingbeams.bsky.social