THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411090025
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 146 lines
``I WOULD LIKE to tell you the story of my life.''
That passage from ``Interview With the Vampire'' begins ``Anne Rice: Birth of the Vampire'' (FoxVideo, $14.98), a documentary about its author. The video, though, is not just a primer for the movie opening Friday.
You know the millions of fans who read Rice's 1976 novel, the second most-popular vampire story since ``Dracula,'' will be watching with microscopes to see if the film plays fair. But as ``Birth'' makes clear, there's more at stake than whether Tom Cruise is a convincing Lestat.
``Interview With the Vampire'' truly is a life's work. The video, a BBC production that premiered on TV last month, interviews Rice, a candid, handsome woman, her family and close friends to create both an insightful portrait and a fascinating look at the creative process.
Many things shaped Rice as a child, particularly growing up Catholic in New Orleans, with its rich and real spiritual heritage. ``We all grew up with the other world next to us,'' says Rice's sister. ``Everyone believed in ghosts.''
But it was the loss of Rice's daughter that was most profound. Michelle, nicknamed Claudia because she wore her hair like the actress Claudia Cardinale, was 5 when she died from leukemia. Four years later, ``Interview'' resurrected her as the child-vampire Claudia. You can feel Rice's pain.
``Life seems at times to me unbearable, just one inch away from horrible. The amount of pain, waste, loss, destruction, chaos - it's like a vision that's always right near me. I write and I see my family and follow my obsessions and explore what I have to explore to fight that.''
Rice reinvented the myth with her novel. But if her notion of a repentant vampire doesn't quite jell with the monster that has stalked most books and films, she still played by the rules. For my money, that's what counts when you're dealing with the undead.
I was bored by ``Bram Stoker's Dracula'' because Francis Ford Coppola tried to make it a grand love story that had nothing to do with the novel. Why anyone gives ``Near Dark'' a second thought is a mystery. One vampire shields himself with a blanket. Another is CURED by a transfusion. Please.
There aren't too many vampire movies out there that I've missed - I mean everything from ``The Vampire Happening'' to ``Dracula Blows His Cool.'' But if you pointed me to the video store and said I could only bring home five tapes, this is what they'd be:
``Nosferatu'' (1922). This creepy, first adaptation - a silent version - is haunting thanks to Max Schreck's eerie performance. The filmmakers couldn't use Dracula because of copyright problems with Stoker's widow.
``Dracula'' (1931). Poor Bela Lugosi never could outlive the role, but if he doesn't deliver the scares he used to, he gave a genre-defining performance that made the film a deserved classic.
``The Horror of Dracula'' (1958). Christopher Lee's elegant count showed him for the ruthless monster he was. The first film in the Hammer Studio's series still may be the most faithful adaptation of the novel.
``Fright Night'' (1985). I loved the way this movie updated the legend. A teenager is certain his suave neighbor is a vampire, and enlists a late-night, monster movie host, wonderfully played by Roddy McDowall, to help wipe him out.
``The Lost Boys'' (1987). Another surprise, but like ``Fright Night,'' here for the same reasons. Kiefer Sutherland leads a pack of vampires trying to recruit Jason Patric. The film mixes equal parts horror and humor.
TOP TAPES (in Billboard):
Sales: ``Jurassic Park,'' ``The Nightmare Before Christmas,'' ``The 3 Tenors in Concert 1994,'' ``Sleepless in Seattle,'' ``Beastie Boys: Sabotage''
Rentals: ``Jurassic Park,'' ``The Crow,'' ``The Nightmare Before Christmas,'' ``Four Weddings and a Funeral,'' ``The Paper''
The Couch Report
Lots o' new stuff this week. Playing a little catch-up, too.
``With Honors'' (1994, Warner). You know how this one will unreel in the first 10 minutes, so credit Joe Pesci and Brendan Fraser for making it interesting. Robin Williams played the romantic dropout better in ``The Fisher King,'' but Pesci's OK. Fraser, though, is quite good as the driven student who learns from him that Life holds more than any course at Harvard.
(CAST: Joe Pesci, Brendan Fraser, Moira Kelly. RATED: PG-13 for language)
``City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold'' (1994, Columbia TriStar). Thar's gold in them hills, but the forced jokes and tired schtick make it obvious the reason Billy Crystal is back out West is the gold to be mined in sequels. Nothing new on the trail this time except dust.
(CAST: Billy Crystal, Jack Palance, Daniel Stern, Jon Lovitz. RATED: PG-13 for mild language)
``Even Cowgirls Get the Blues'' (1994, New Line). If ``offbeat'' and ``elliptical'' are OK with you, Gus Van Sant's spin on the Tom Robbins novel is lots of fun. Uma Thurman brings a wide-eyed appeal to Sissy Hankshaw, whose thumbs take her to the cowgirls and cranes at the Rubber Rose Ranch. And John Hurt is a hoot as The Countess. Ha Ha Ho Ho and Hee-Hee, indeed.
(CAST: Uma Thurman, John Hurt, Lorraine Bracco. RATED: R for language, themes, brief nudity)
``Martin Lawrence: You So Crazy'' (1994, HBO). Hard to believe this concert film created a ratings controversy. It's loaded with obscenities, but Lawrence is often on target when he talks about racism, sex and white people. I laughed out loud, though not as hard as I did 20 years ago when Richard Pryor put out ``That Nigger's Crazy.''
(RATED: R because Martin has serious potty mouth)
``The Flintstones'' (1994, MCA/Universal). It's fair to say this overpriced, overhyped production is true to its cartoon origins. On the flip side, those origins are pretty lame. Go ahead, rent it for the kids. John Goodman's dead-on Fred and the imaginative props will help you grin and bear it.
(CAST: John Goodman, Rick Moranis, Rosie O'Donnell, Elizabeth Perkins. RATED: PG for pretty goofy)
``BrainScan'' (1994, Columbia TriStar). More like ``BrainDead.'' Teenage outcast plays a hot CD-ROM game and ends up No. 1 murder suspect in a stinker that has it all: horrid acting, cheapo FX and a boogeyman who wouldn't scare a preschooler. Anyone for ``Pong''?
(CAST: Edward Furlong, Frank Langella, T. Ryder Smith. RATED: R for gore, language, brief nudity)
``Jimmy Hollywood'' (1994, Paramount). Somewhere in Barry Levinson's film is a decent story about the dark side of Hollywood. Joe Pesci makes a sad case for the out-of-work actor who can't see the reality for the illusion. But the movie loses focus when he finds his dream role as a media-made vigilante. Christian Slater - Lenny to Jimmy's George - goes nowhere.
(CAST: Joe Pesci, Christian Slater, Victoria Abril. RATED: R for language)
``The Wedding Banquet'' (1994, FoxVideo). Wai and Simon have a happy life: He's a developer, he's a therapist. They come up with a ruse to keep Wai's matchmaking parents at bay: He will ``marry'' an artist, one of his tenants, who needs a green card. But when the folks arrive from Taiwan, the generation and culture gaps are exposed. It's very, very funny and deeply touching.
(CAST: Winston Chao, May Chin, Mitchell Lichtenstein. RATED: R for themes, language and brief nudity)
``Bad Girls'' (1994, FoxVideo). Madeleine Stowe skinnin' snakes and knocking back a flask? Why not? This Western dusts off every other cliche, only with four gals riding tall. Any '90ish pretenses are dropped for the old score-to-settle theme. If it doesn't gallop, it moves at a nice canter.
(CAST: Madeleine Stowe, Drew Barrymore, Andie MacDowell, Mary Stuart Masterson. RATED: R for violence, language, brief nudity)
Also: A kid takes over the Minnesota Twins in ``Little Big League'' (PG); teeny dinosaurs return in ``Prehysteria 2'' (PG), and Stacy Keach and David Keith saddle up in ``James A. Michener's Texas.''
Tuesday: ``Speed''
Next Wednesday: ``Wyatt Earp,'' ``When a Man Loves a Woman,'' ``Beverly Hills Cop III,'' ``Cops and Robbersons,'' ``For a Lost Soldier,'' ``The Favor,'' ``Playmaker,'' ``The Three Avengers,'' ``Trancers 5,'' ``Marilyn: The Last Word,'' ``Breaking Point,'' ``The Paperboy,'' ``Private Lessons: Another Story,'' ``Black Diamond Rush'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
``Anne Rice: Birth of the Vampire'' is a documentary about the
author.
Bela Lugosi was never able to live down his role as ``Dracula'' in
the 1931 flick.
by CNB