 STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED |
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| FILM DETAILS | Certificate
15 | | Cast
Stuart Townsend
Marguerite Moreau
Aaliyah
Vincent Perez
Paul McGann
Margeurite Moreau. | | Directors
Michael Rymer. | | Screenwriters
Scott Abbott
Michael Petroni
Scott Abbot. | | Running Time
101 minutes |
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Queen of the Damned (15) Plot
A vampire's life is neverending lonely subterfuge. Driven by a need for love, Lestat leaves his coffin and becomes a rock star, belting out vampire secrets, enraging his kin and awakening the banished Queen Akasha in the process. Review
Fictional vampires usually get treated in one of two ways: with Gothic, hushed respect (Bram Stoker's 'Dracula') or schlocky, self-aware ribbing (anything starring Bela Lugosi).
Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles - on which 'Queen Of The Damned' is based - fall into the former faction, as did Neil Jordan's adaptation of the first in the series, 'Interview With The Vampire', a film that made vampirism seem gloriously sexy and well worth the pain.
Not so, 'Queen Of The Damned'. Michael Ryman seems to have no interest in the androgynous beauty of Anne Rice's undead, for his Queen is little more than an overdone FX-fest with nothing of the intelligence or plot of Interview.
The storyline - a dense, rich history in Rice's books - becomes a tangled charade, as a paranormal librarian discovers a vampire aunt, an ancient Egyptian queen comes back to life, and everything gets confused in a cacophony of voiceover and mediocre Goth metal.
Despite the title, the story is really that of the vampire Lestat, whose desire to shake off this immortal coil has made him brazen and foolhardy, willing to risk anything for company.
And despite the B-Movie European accent, Townsend puts in a credible performance as the thinking man's vampire ù-even if he does seem uncomfortable in the role.
Similarly embarrassed is Vincent Perez, who puts in a half-hearted show as Lestat's maker. Even the presence of a writhing, commanding Aaliyah whose death makes her onscreen demise eerie and less than tasteful, fails to eroticise or legitimise a film that rarely supersedes those of Channel 5's late night fillers. Verdict
Wishy-washy and hampered by cliche, sitting through this is like enduring a vampire life: it's one long wait for the end.
Reviewer: Nicky Agate
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Average user rating for Queen of the Damned
| 2 Star Empire Rating??? | | | Come on!!! This was good. The acting, directing, special effects and soundtrack. Really not desrving a 3 star from Empire!!! ... Read More
| | | Halo14 About me | | 05:25, 03 December 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Queen of the Damned | | I'm a huge fan of The Vampire Chronicles and like someone else has said was excited when this was announced. I saw it at a press screening and it is indeed poor. However, the soundtrack is excellent and despite his many detractors, Stuart Townsend actually picked up elements of Lestat from the novels that Tom Cruise didn't. Cruise is the better of the two IMO but Townsend portrayed Lestat's arrogance better. As for another sequel, I think Memnoch the Devil would be worth seeing but by ... Read More
| | | losthighway About me | | 15:57, 03 June 2007 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Queen of the Damned | | I remember how excited I was when they first announced this. Then as time went on I heard little bits about how they had butchered the whole history of the book. I knew it was going to be crap.
And it was. p; ... Read More
| | | Hex About me | | 19:29, 18 May 2007 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Queen of the Damned | | Not that bad. In fact, pretty good. Interesting, you know? Didn't like the ending much but there was some good stuff in there. ... Read More
| | | gunstar About me | | 19:05, 18 May 2007 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Queen of the Damned | |
L: UTB
I know everybody quotes Batman & Robin as the worst film ever, but thats quite clearly because they havent seen this.
Terrible in i] way.
aha! At least it won't be one of those where I invest too much expectation and come out disappointed... ... Read More
| | | Monkey Wrench About me | | 22:58, 20 May 2006 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Queen of the Damned | | I know everybody quotes Batman & Robin as the worst film ever, but thats quite clearly because they havent seen this.
Terrible in i] way. ... Read More
| | | UTB About me | | 21:32, 20 May 2006 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Queen of the Damned | | As an Anne Rice fan and an even bigger fan of this particular installment in her acclaimed vampire series, I took this huge pile of steaming, abominable shite - personally !! The Mayfair Witches needs to ba adapted, but if they bollocks that one up too - I predict a riot !! ... Read More
| | | Critical Bill About me | | 21:04, 20 May 2006 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: queen of the damned | | I haven't bothered seeing this film, even though I consider myself a "Interview With The Vampire". I've always been a big fan of vampire flicks but I managed to catch a preview of this one and was turned off by it's obvious lack of dark and torturous elements. Anne Rice is all about dark, just look at the inspiration for "Interview...", that being the premature death of her young and innocent daughter. This almost seemed too "pop" (I hate that term) to be a typically beautiful work of Anne Ric... Read More
| | | Monkey Wrench About me | | 21:55, 19 May 2006 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: queen of the damned | | Its not that he is a good actor but I would like to see him in something where he really needed to act to see if he could pull it off. ... Read More
| | | cascararogue About me | | 14:21, 19 May 2006 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: queen of the damned | | asically. what more can i say? overacted pretty much. the music fit, yeah, but that wasnt nothing to rave about. stuart townsends supposed to be good then, is he? ... Read More
| | | deadbeat lebowski About me | | 14:02, 19 May 2006 | Report This Post | |
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