Queen of the Damned (2002)

The backstory behind the releasing of "Queen of the Damned" is a more interesting story than the film itself. After some release date changes, there were rumors surrounding that the film was going to head straight to video. However, when the films star Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash after shooting, Warner Bros. decided again to give the film some life on the big screen. Now with the film out, I can see why it took long for the film to come out and the considerations of releasing it to tape instead of theaters. Its a sloppy, sluggish movie that wanders around aimlessly throughout its length and never has any of the character depth or grim content that made "Interview with the Vampire" succeed so well in.

Stuart Townsend is finely cast in the part of Lestat, a vampire who has been around for centuries and is living in complete loneliness during the contemporary times. He is so tired of his useless existence that one night he decides to go out of the shadows and make a name of himself by becoming a rock star. Saddled with a group, he becomes a cult figure and a popular celebrity with the media and fans of his music. He even gets his boss to bring groupies to his place for some blood sucking action.

In the middle of all this, the music of Lestat manages to awaken the spirit of Queen Akasha, a vampire goddess who tries to find Lestat, hoping to seduce him into taking over the world with her. He also catches the attention of a bright young woman named Jesse (Marguerite Moreau) who has been attracted to Lestat for reasons she can't figure out and decides to seek him out when finding out about his popularity.

There are times when director Michael Rymer (Angel Baby) shows promise in the project. There's a few fun nods to classical vampire movies I appreciated, a kinetic energy with the music video sequences and he piles the film with plenty of camera trickery, but Rymer can't hide the boredom that sets in early on when you realize the story of the film is often going nowhere.

The mind baffles how Anne Rice agreed on this adaption for "The Vampire Chronicles." I mean there was the rancid film version of "Exit of Eden," but there could've been more to come out of the material than what we have here. The screenplay by Scott Abbott and Michael Petroni do introduce some clever ideas and intriguing characters to the proceedings, but never fully develop them and I was often baffled by the motivations of the characters. There is some potential momentum that starts to gain in the second half, but it dies down since it often relies on cliches and awkward story twists that make hardly any sense. At least the set design and some the special effects look nice.

Townsend does well in the part of Lestat, even making the often ridiculous dialogue he is given convincing. I had first caught him in "About Adam" recently and feel there's a great amount of potential for Townsend in the future if he gets the right project.

The top billing of Aaliyah is somewhat misleading since she doesn't appear until late in the movie and she seems out of place here. She looks absolutely ravishing, but she spends most of the time here acting very "seductive," making a wacky swaying technique with her hips that ended up eliciting laughs from the crowds. Her talents seemed put to better use in the clunker "Romeo Must Die," but at least she does make the film somewhat interesting when she appears.

The rest of the cast manage to work fine with what they got, despite being underwritten in the material. Marguerite Moreau is another rising talent who does a fairly good job in the love interest part. Its a bland character, but she hits the right notes in the part. The longtime underrated Vincent Perez gets to chew up the scenery as Marius and Lena Olin is looking hot as a fellow vampire, but is wasted in a bit part.

I wanted to like this film with the potential it had, but it turned out to be a lame movie with very little to make it worth seeing. The soundtrack, with "Korn" singer Jonathan Davis doing the singing for Lestat, brings in some excellent tunes and the loud riffs managed to keep me up in this snoozefest, but I can't think of too much else that really stuck out watching the movie. There could be some promise if they decide to follow it up and make a more coherent screenplay, but judging from "Damned," the film versions of Lestat should stick to being sealed up in a coffin.

Rating: ** out of *****

Review by Adam Eshack (c) - Review posted on 2/27/02