Queen Of The Damned, the movie, is better than Queen Of The Damned, the book. Unfortunately, it still, well, sucks.
This anemic vampire flick, starring Stuart Townsend as head bloodsucker Lestat and the late R&B diva Aaliyah as the titular Queen, doesn't have a single scare in its pale, lifeless body. While the story is better-focused than the incomprehensible Anne Rice novel it's based upon, Queen Of The Damned is a pointless, meandering celebration of the goth-vampire, tortured woe-is-me lifestyle.
The movie begins with Lestat waking from his vampiric slumber when he hears some kids playing rock and roll. Soon, Lestat himself becomes a rock superstar and he invites all of his fans for one big concert in the desert. But his grinding, industrial music has awakened Queen Akasha, the mother of all vampires, who, for no apparent reason, had turned herself into a statue thousands of years ago. She wants Lestat to be her king, while all the other vampires in the world want to kill the heart-eating monster. Jesse (Marguerite Moreau), a member of a secret society that studies the paranormal, is thrown into the mix too -- she has the hots for Lestat and wants to become a vampire.
The movie is more about the melodrama about being a vampire. Lestat spends much of the film moping about being undead -- he drops a lot of hints that he'd just rather be human.
That's one of the main problems -- you have to care about Lestat's soul-searching to enjoy Queen Of The Damned. Too bad the waifish Townsend's slim shoulders aren't strong enough to carry the picture. The Irish actor uses a really bad French accent, and his voiceover narration makes you cringe, but even Tom Cruise, who played Lestat in the original Interview With The Vampire, couldn't have saved this movie.
A very good supporting cast is wasted, too, with Lena Olin (as a vampire who wants to destroy Akasha) and Paul McGann (from Withnail & I) getting scant screen time.
On the Type-O positive side, Aaliyah lends great sensuality to her scenes -- she had an undeniable screen presence that was evident in her first film, Romeo Must Die. And there are some interesting moments during a long flashback scene, when Lestat recalls how he was made a vampire (thanks to the fey Marius, played by Vincent Perez).
But that's about it. If you really want to see a good story featuring people with fangs, you'd best watch Buffy The Vampire Slayer on TV instead.
(More on: Queen of the Damned).
(This film is rated AA)
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