Howard Allen Frances O’Brien, known to the public as authorAnne Rice, is famous for her novels in the genres of Gothic fiction, erotic literature, and Christian literature, which is an interesting combination, to say the least. Sadly, Rice passed away in December 2021 at the age of 80 due to complications from a stroke, perThe New York Times. She became most famous for her vampire novels,The Vampire Chronicles, which began in 1976 withInterview with a Vampire. Lestat de Lioncourt, a fictitious vampire who was a French aristocrat in the 18th Century, serves as the central figure in the novel series.
At the time of this writing, the novel series consists of 10 contributions to the overall story, with the most recent and final book,Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat, having been published in 2018. It is a common thing in the entertainment industry to createbook to screen adaptations. Great examples of this areHarry Potter,Jurassic Park, andGood Omens, whose onscreen stories have propelled beyond the page. The following films and television series based on Anne Rice’s works are no exception to this trend of adaptation. Here’s how they all rank.
6Exit to Eden
The 1994 filmExit to Edenwasdirected by Garry Marshalland adapted from Rice’s novel of the same name. The film follows Elliot Slater (Paul Mercurio), a photographer from Australia, who manages to get the one and only picture of a worldwide jewel robber named Omar. To try to prevent his photo from being made public, Omar (Stuart Wilson) and his partner in crime, Nina (Iman), follow Elliot on vacation to a private island called Eden, where he is going for an S&M themed adventure. The whole group is also chased by two law enforcement officers, Shelia (Rosie O’Donnell) and Fred (Dan Aykroyd), who want to catch Omar and expose his identity to the public. Dana Delany also stars, portraying Mistress Lisa, the head dominatrix of the island, whom Elliot falls in love with, leading to a complicated time for all.
Critics hated the film due to the original story being mashed with Rice’s novel’s elements. Its box office revenue seems to agree, with the movie only making $3 million on a $6.5 million budget. Famed review criticRoger Ebertwent so far as to say, “On the first page of my notes, I wrote ‘Starts slow.’ On the second page, I wrote ‘Boring.’ On the third page, I wrote ‘Endless!'” and noted thatExit to Edenis “supposed to be a kinky sex comedy, but it keeps getting distracted.”
5The Young Messiah
From her many novels, Rice occasionally wrote about things that were not vampires, witches, or considered Gothic. One such book wasChrist the Lord: Out of Egypt, which is about Jesus before adulthood. The 2016 film adaptation was calledThe Young Messiahand starred Adam Greaves-Neal as a seven-year-old Jesus, telling the story of his family’s move from Alexandria in Egypt to Nazareth. Things are made even more harrowing by the fact that they are not aware King Herod’s son (Jonathan Bailey) is tracking Jesus and wants him dead.
Though rather predictable in its story, the film does a good job of utilizing its source material. While Steven D. Greydanus ofNational Catholic Registernoted, “The Young Messiahoffers an imaginative vision of the most iconic and celebrated family in human history that is both surprising and familiar, warmly human and credible yet also different,” the film was considered a box office bomb, only making $7 million on its $18.5 million budget.
The Best Gothic Movies of All Time
Cinema was practically birthed with Gothic horror, with the atmospheric and spellbinding genre both frightening and riveting audiences to this day.
4Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches
A more modern adaptation of an Anne Rice novel is the 2023 seriesMayfair Witches, based on her novel,The Witching Hour. This series premiered on AMC in January 2023 and wasrenewed for a second seasonby February. Bringing to life the story of Dr. Rowan Fielding, a neurosurgeon who discovers she comes from a long line of witches based in New Orleans and is their heir, is Alexandra Daddario. When her power, which allows her to injury with only her thoughts, begins to grow, Rowan must turn to her newly discovered and somewhat dysfunctional family to learn the control she needs, while also navigating life. A powerful shape-shifter named Lasher (Jack Huston), who is bound to and essentially haunting her witches line also becomes a bit of a problem.
Critics have called the series too slow and wish for more action packed sequences within the storyline.Variety’s Daniel D’Addario noted, “There’s a bit too much dross amid what works — a sign of the times in terms of series orders being bulked out beyond what the story can sustain, and a reminder that, as a writer, Rice was not known for the gift of concision.”
3Interview With the Vampire
The most well known of Rice’s books isInterview With the Vampireand, in 1994, director Neil Jordan made a surprisingly well-received adaptation of the famous novel. The film version ofInterview With the Vampireis set during the 18th Century and chronicles the transformation of Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt) into a vampire alongside his mentor, the vampire Lestat (Tom Cruise), and the vampire Claudia (Kristen Dunst). Louis speaks to the journalist, Daniel Molloy (Christian Slater), and details how he learned that his companions and many other vampires he has encountered have not been as fortunate as he in surviving on the need for the blood of the innocent.
AMC Expands Anne Rice Universe with Upcoming Third Installment
The untitled series about a secret society will join Interview with the Vampire and Mayfair Witches as part of Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe.
2Queen of the Damned
Based on Rice’s 1988 book of the same name, the 2002 film adaptationQueen of the Damnedtakes place after the events ofInterview With the Vampire. At this point, the vampire Lestat (Stuart Townsend) has become a global rock star with a sultry sound and penchant for feeding on his adoring fans. His music awakens the ancient sleeping queen of the vampires, Akasha (Aaliyah), who decides to take over the world. Lestat must partner up with an equally ancient coven to stop her before it’s too late.
This film, with its campyover-the-top idea of vampires, has gained a cult following, making it one of the Anne Rice adaptations every fan should see. Sadly, Aaliyah passed away at the age of 22 in a plane crash, which also took the lives of seven other people, before the completion of the movie, and it was finished in her honor.
1AMC’s Interview With the Vampire
Another of the more modern adaptations, AMC’s 2022 television series version ofInterview With the Vampireis set in the same universe as theMayfair Witches. The series was created by Rolin Jones and follows the basic plot from Rice’s book while reimagining the characters for the current climate and audience. The series garnered both acclaim and unnecessary criticism for the casting of a Black actor, Jacob Anderson, in the lead role of Louis de Pointe du Lac, but it seems to be working out well, as the series has beenrenewed for a second season.
In its first season, the show tackled some important early-20th Century societal topics such as race, sexuality, and power. This adaptation ofInterview With the Vampiretakes into account the sexual relationship between Louis and Lestat from the novel series, which was only hinted at in the previous film version, and makes it an important topic as well.
