'Interview with the Vampire' is a 'masterpiece.' Just ask Anne Rice.

I marked another Saturn Award winner for Best Horror Movie off my list yesterday and this time it was 1994 winner, “Interview with the Vampire.”

Based on the 1976 novel by Anne Rice, this movie stars Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst, Antonio Banderas and Christian Slater. I read Rice’s novel several years ago, and it’s one of the best vampire novels I’ve ever read. Rice was so pleased with the movie adaptation of her book that she placed two-page ads in Vanity Fair and The New York Times, calling the movie “a masterpiece.” (Keep in mind that she did write the screenplay.)

For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, it begins with Pitt in the role of vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac. Louis’s giving a late night interview to a San Francisco reporter, played by Christian Slater, and the main topic of conversation concerns Louis’ life as a vampire.

Way back in 1791, Louis was the master of a plantation outside New Orleans, but became a member of the undead after he was bitten by the vampire, Lestat de Lioncourt, who was played by Tom Cruise. The two roam the night together for some time and eventually are joined by a third vampire, this time a young girl named Claudia, played by Kirsten Dunst.

Claudia and Louis eventually have a bloody split with Lestat, who they leave for dead before departing for Europe in search of answers about vampires and their origins.

This is one of my favorite vampire movies of all time, and it’s one of my favorites because it’s set in large part in New Orleans, a city that I love. The movie’s New Orleans riverfront scenes were shot on a false front built on the levee down the Mississippi River from the French Quarter. The set was built around the old section of Jackson Barracks, which is a Louisiana National Guard post.

Louis’ plantation house is actually the Oak Alley Plantation, which is located on the banks of the Mississippi River in Vacherie, La. If you go there today, you’ll see the home’s guestbook, which is signed by Pitt and Cruise.

Some of you may have also recognized New Orleans Old Coliseum Theatre, where Louis goes to watch the movie, “Tequila Sunrise.” Unfortunately, there theatre’s not there anymore because it burned down in 2006.

In the end, this movie was a lot of fun to rewatch and from here, it’s on to the 1995 Saturn Award winner, “From Dusk till Dawn,” which starred George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel and Juliette Lewis.