Episode Guide
Episode 1 – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 2 – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 3 – | Review Score – 3/5 Episode 4 – | Review Score – 4/5 Episode 5 – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 6 – | Review Score – 3/5 Episode 7 – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Alongside zombies, there’s a myriad of vampire fiction to sink your teeth into. From Twilight and Dracula through to Salem’s Lot and The Vampyr, vampire fiction is plentiful and the medium holds quite the bounty of storytelling. In this era of remakes, sequels and adaptations, the only surprising thing here is how long it’s taken Interview with the Vampire to be adapted. Although released back in 1994 as a feature film, Interview with the Vampire has been revamped and adapted once more, this time for modern audiences. Although those last 3 words have been known to send shivers down your spine, ready for different literary works to be bastardized beyond recognition (hello, Wheel of Time!) Interview with the Vampire doesn’t really follow its source material, making a whole bunch of changes along the way, but those creative choices actually do a pretty good job of keeping the core themes intact – which shouldn’t be a surprise given Anna Rice was actually involved in the creative process for several of these episodes. Interview with the Vampire, for those unaware, follows Louis de Pointe, a man-turned-vampire whose epic story of love and the perils of immortality show a vulnerability and conflicting feelings toward Lestat de Lioncourt, the man who turned him into a vampire in the first place. Their relationship is a heady cocktail of abuse, lust and power, something exacerbated when a young girl called Claudia joins their ranks and becomes part of the family. This dysfunctional trio play mental games of chess with one another, testing boundaries and attempting to eke out a living in New Orleans through the years. As the episodes progress though, the attention turns away from the outside world and how they vilify the trio, and across to the growing rifts occuring inside the house. It happens gradually, with a really solid chapter that switches the perspective over to Claudia in an effort to see how all of this affects her. Stylistically, Interview with the Vampire starts brightly, sags a little in the middle and then picks up toward the end, with some really nice camera work and edits throughout. Part of this comes from the format, which sees Louis retell his story to journalist Daniel Molloy in the present, with the series riffing back and forth between the two timelines. It’s never intrusive though, and if anything the show actually benefits from this approach. When the story needs to skip forward in time, the series cleverly weaves this in by pausing and seeing Daniel’s commentary on events. With a second season on the way and plenty more gas in the tank, AMC look like they’re onto a winner here. Although there are a fair amount of changes to the source material, if you can go into this one with an open mind, the story changes are good enough to get behind and enjoy.
