By Britta DeVore
| Published 17 seconds ago

Before Twilight fever swept over the nation, another group of cinematic vampires brought the world to its knees in the mid-90s thanks to Neil Jordan’s cinematic adaptation of Interview with the Vampire. Featuring several of the biggest names of the decade, the movie saw the career powerhouses of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt collide and cross paths with Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater, and a very young Kirsten Dunst. Now, Max subscribers are invited to turn the clock back and take a bite out of the beloved movie as it’s currently available on the streaming platform.

Based On Anne Rice’s Best Selling Novel

Geniusly taking the story first penned by legendary author Anne Rice in her 1976 novel of the same name and transferring it onto the big screen, filmmaker Neil Jordan struck gold with Interview with the Vampire. Sticking close to the source material, the movie follows a centuries-old vampire named Louis (Brad Pitt) who, in the present day, is recalling his extraordinary life, death, and afterlife to a reporter (Christian Slater) in San Francisco.

Wrapped up in his tales are names like his sire and longtime companion, Lestat (Tom Cruise), and Claudia (Kirsten Dunst), whom the pair turned into one of their kind, for better or for worse.

Released by Warner Bros., Interview with the Vampire was one of the year’s most celebrated arrivals, garnering largely positive reviews and earning more than $223 million at the box office against its $60 million production budget. That year, the vamps headed to the biggest night in Hollywood, as the movie was up for Best Art Direction and Best Original Score at the Academy Awards, proving that there was much more to the project than its star-studded cast. 

The Not-So-Popular Sequel

As is so often the case when a hit like Interview with the Vampire rolls along, it didn’t take too long for the studio to spot a possible goldmine and attempt to tap into it. This would happen less than a decade later when Queen of the Damned was released. While not a direct sequel, the Aaliyah-led movie featured characters from the original film just played by different actors. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t see the same success that Interview with the Vampire did at the box office, considered to largely be a flop. 

The New Interview With The Vampire Series

That being said, if you do check out Interview with the Vampire while it’s streaming on Max, it’s also worth hopping over to AMC+ to watch the series version of the story. Now moving into its third season, the show has been a hit with audiences and critics alike, sticking much closer to the original story penned by Rice. In fact, the show has been such a success for the network that they’ve expanded on what’s now been dubbed Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe, with other titles including Mayfair Witches and an upcoming project about the secret society known as the Talamasca in development.

When you look back on how we view vampires in cinema, obviously classics like Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula and F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu left their heavy marks on the beloved horror characters. But, it’s with Interview with the Vampire that an entirely new generation discovered the literary writings of Anne Rice and fell in love with a much more romanticized gothic tale. Check it out for yourself now on Max.