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'Queen of the Damned' shows style over substance
 Harold John Behling
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Great: another vampire movie. Great: another movie with a pop star in it. Another great movie?
"Queen of the Damned" is easy to pass over if you are as bitter and cynical as I am, but there's a lesson to be learned here: sometimes an obvious and blatantly commercial film has incredible entertainment value. Even if it is a guilty pleasure. Let me explain.
Set in the present day (but taking many random excursions in the past) "Queen of the Damned" is an installment in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, the immensely popular line of books made famous in hollywood with 1994's "Interview with the Vampire."
Don't mistake this film as a sequel to "Interview," though. It's nothing of the sort. In fact the two movies are almost unrecognizable when placed side by side.
"Interview" is an elegant veil hiding a sick and utterly repulsive and denigrating world. "Queen" is as flashy as rockstar leather pants � intimidating, awe inspiring, entertaining, but the effect is not lasting.
The vampire Lestat De Lioncourt rises from a 200-year nap to the world that we live in today. Quickly, and seemingly without second thought, he betrays all rules of the vampire lifestyle and adopts a life in the public eye as a rockstar and admitted vampire.
Although it sounds campy (and it is) Lestat's transformation into rockstar fits his character well and fulfills his inner most craving: to be worshiped.
Besides this, he uses his rise to the top to stir other vampires out of hiding, most notably an ancient vampire named Marius.
Now where does the Queen of the Damned come into play? Surprisingly, it's later in the film that Akasha, the Queen of the Damned and first vampire, is awaken by the power of Lestat's music and rises to rule the earth again.
One of the problems with "Queen" is it's hefty backstory.
Director Michael Rymer tries desperately to cover all the bases, speeding quickly through the flashbacks while trying to build the subplots and develop the beloved Lestat. Surprisingly he does this well, rightfully assuming that the audience will not tolerate a slow pace, and rushing desperately to the conflict in the film, which takes place in the present day.
Although his execution is good, the approach itself has many faults. The story ends up being spread too thin, without enough time being devoted to any of the key goals to the plot (especially the queen herself), but these shortcomings are more annoying than they are destructive to the enjoyment of the film.
The strongest asset to "Queen of the Damned" is, ironically, the "King." Stewart Townsend, as Lestat, eclipses the bronze clad late pop star Aaliyah (Akasha, Queen of the Damned) in a commanding performance.
Townsend is half Jim Morrison, half Bella Lugosi as he performs the standard vampire tricks (disappearing then reappearing just behind someone, walking on the ceiling, leering seductively at young groupies) clad in black leather pants and stylish silk shirts. The approach here is intimidation over terror.
Lestat is foreboding, pale and very creepy. He never breaks through that barrier and becomes an icon of true terror. This point is reflected throughout the whole movie. Never truly scary at any moment, but slick, stylish and fun to watch it seems to meet it's goal as an entertaining movie while never really meeting the expectations of a horror movie.
"Interview with the Vampire" is an example of a movie doing something new. There are few films that are as gritty and dark as Neil Jordan's "Interview."
"Queen of the Damned" is a movie that, although not incredibly original, does what it does well, and if you like it's approach, you're liable to enjoy it.
With too critical an eye it's shortcomings become very difficult to see past, but when allowing yourself to enjoy it both as a visual spectacle and as pure entertainment, you end up being satisfied. I was.
Harold John Behling can be reached at: [email protected]
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