Line #15 Film/InterviewWithTheVampire


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/interview_with_the_vampire.jpg]]
2
3	->''"Drink from me and live forever..."''
4
5	A 1994 period horror film, based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Creator/AnneRice, the first in her ''Literature/TheVampireChronicles'' series. The film was directed by Neil Jordan, and stars Creator/TomCruise, Creator/BradPitt, Creator/AntonioBanderas, Creator/ChristianSlater, and Creator/KirstenDunst. It received a standalone sequel in the 2002 film, ''Film/QueenOfTheDamned'', though none of the ''Interview'' actors returned to their roles.
6
7	The movie's framing story centers on a newspaper reporter named Daniel Molloy (Slater), interviewing a man named Louis (Pitt) who claims to be a vampire. Molloy is [[AgentScully unconvinced]] of Louis's claim until his subject displays feats of inhuman speed. He agrees to interview Louis, who then relates his previous life as a UsefulNotes/NewOrleans aristocrat, and subsequent unlife as a vampire, turned by Lestat (Cruise).
8
9	Although Lestat teaches his pupil the ways of vampires and how to hunt mortals for their blood, at first Louis resists his vampire urges, preferring to prey on rats and other animals rather than biting humans. He finally succumbs to his appetites, biting and killing his housemaid. Afterwards, Louis attempts to kill himself by burning down his estate, but Lestat drags him out and they escape to New Orleans, renting an apartment together.
10
11	While Louis continues to be wracked with guilt at his own urges, Lestat has embraced his nature, even taunting Louis by turning a young child named Claudia (Dunst) into a vampire [[BabiesMakeEverythingBetter so Louis will never leave him]]. Like any great domestic drama, things only get worse from here...
12
13	----
14	!!I am going to give you the tropes I never had:
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16	* AbominableAuditorium: The Theatre des Vampires is a theatre troop composed almost entirely of vampires. Under Armand's leadership, it allows the vampires of his coven to murder human victims live on stage without the audience suspecting it to be anything other than a particularly lurid horror show. [[spoiler: The Theatre proves no more hospitable to their fellow vampires: once they discover that Louis and Claudia murdered Lestat, they have the former Buried Alive while the latter is [[ExecutionByExposure executed by sunrise]].]]
17	* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: Louis claims not to be broody in the novel, but he is in the film; allegedly Brad Pitt didn't have a happy time making the film.
18	* AdaptationDyeJob:
19	** Armand is described as having auburn hair in the book. In film, he has exceptionally dark brown or black hair. The idea of costuming Creator/AntonioBanderas as a "[[Creator/SandroBotticelli Botticelli]] angel" would have been patently ridiculous.
20	** Slightly less distractingly, Louis' jet-black hair became brown.
21	* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: In the film, Louis is severely depressed after his wife dies before Lestat offers to turn him into a vampire. This doesn't make a lot of sense, as Louis is wanting to die to be freed from his suffering at that point. In the novel, Louis is depressed because he believes his actions led to the suicide of his brother, and he chooses to become a vampire because he wants to be ''damned'' and suffer for his decision.
22	* AdaptedOut: The film axes Louis' younger brother Paul, whose death was the catalyst for Louis' suicidal depression in the beginning of the book, replacing him with a brief mention of a dead wife and child who didn't exist in the books. An entire subplot regarding a woman named Babette, who Louis secretly advises in running her family, was also dropped.
23	%% * AffablyEvil: Lestat, at least towards Louis and Claudia.
24	* AgeLift:
25	** In the book, Claudia has the physical appearance of a five-year-old, having been turned at that age. Creator/KirstenDunst was twelve upon the movie's release. Aside from narrowing down the inherent creepiness factor, this avoids the practical impossibility of a five-year-old actress playing a believable adult character.
26	** Armand, a cherubic seventeen-year-old in the book, is aged up to his mid thirties and played by Creator/AntonioBanderas, apparently to avoid the disturbing factor in having two of the main character's three pseudo-love-interests be underage.
27	* AllPartOfTheShow: The French Théâtre des Vampires kill mortals onstage in front of a human audience, who believe the deaths to be all part of the show.
28	%% * AlmostKiss: Between Louis and Armand.
29	* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler:It's left unclear if Daniel chose to become a vampire or die after Lestat bit him.]]
30	* AmbiguouslyBi: Louis has a deceased wife, and Lestat is perfectly willing to seduce women to drink from them, but their relationship is full of HomoeroticSubtext and it's strongly implied Lestat will seduce men too.
31	* AndIMustScream:
32	** Louis is sealed into a coffin and set into a solid cement wall. Naturally, being a vampire and thus immortal, he does not need the oxygen, food or water that this denies him — and in context, lack of blood does not kill a vampire, it simply torments him and drives him slowly insane. Or it would, if he wasn't rescued shortly after to avoid this fate.
33	** This may have happened to another vampire during the time that Louis and Claudia were traveling the world in search of their kin. So for several decades, Lestat was left barely alive in the old manor, seemingly killed for a ''second'' time. Instead of dying, he survives as a charcoal covered corpse that feeds on rats, all alone and afraid of the changing outside world.
34	* AndStarring: "And introducing Creator/KirstenDunst as Claudia". Her career seems to be trundling along healthily. (Although it wasn't close to the first thing she'd done.)
35	* ArtisticLicenseSpace: [[spoiler:Claudia and Madeleine are executed by being confined in a well open to the sun.]] We see the sun appear to pass directly over what appears to be a vertical well. However, the sun can never be directly overhead in Paris; that can only occur between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
36	* AssholeVictim:
37	** The French vampires of the Theatre, who executed [[spoiler:Claudia and Madeleine]].
38	** The pimp at the beginning who tried to mug Louis and dies for it.
39	%% ** Lestat (though in the end he's more sympathetic).
40	* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Lestat seems to think that making Claudia a vampire will result in them all being "one happy family". It works for a bit, before being deconstructed.
41	* TheBabyTrap: Lestat seems to first see Claudia as the "baby" for his version of this, to force Louis to stay with him. It's interesting.
42	* BerserkButton: Louis does not take well to being asked to make a vampire.
43	* BigBadEnsemble: Lestat de Lioncourt, Louis' sire who wants to corrupt him into ruthlessness, and Armand, leader of the Parisian vampire population.
44	* BreakingAndBloodsucking: Inverted, Claudia is brought home after Louis nearly kills her, Lestat turning the girl as a gift. For her first meal, Lestat summons a maid to Claudia's bedroom, whom he hypnotizes and drapes over the bed for his new daughter to feed on.
45	%% * BreakTheHaughty: Lestat by the end...only for it be subverted at the last moment.
46	* CallBack:
47	** Lestat once comments that all he needs to do to find Louis is to follow the trail of rat corpses. [[spoiler: When he finds Lestat at the end of the film, he follows a trail of dead rats into the house and up the stairs.]]
48	** He also affirms to Louis, who for a time remains unwilling to kill humans and asks if a vampire's diet composed solely of animal blood is possible, that it is, albeit one he'd find after just a week would be a very unappealing and unappetising. [[spoiler: When they reunite briefly at the end of the film, Louis sees this is exactly what Lestat has been reduced to doing over a period of years, maybe even over a century no less.]]
49	* CeilingSmash: When Daniel's response to the interview is [[spoiler:to demand Louis work the Dark Gift on him]], Louis responds with this, demonstrating part of the helpless horror a vampire inflicts on their victims every night merely to exist in perpetual emptiness.
50	-->'''Louis:''' Do you like this? Do you like being food for the immortals? Do you like dying?!
51	* ChildishBangs: Claudia, to emphasize her innocent appearance (in contrast with her [[CreepyChild actual personality]]).
52	* CostumePorn: Just about everyone, though particularly Lestat and Claudia, in the 18th and 19th centuries.
53	* CreepyChild: Claudia, especially the scene with the dead prostitute in her pile of dolls.
54	* CurseThatCures: Twice, coupled with hints of EmergencyTransformation. Lestat offers Louis vampirism since it'll cure him of his illness (depression and despair in the film), and later Lestat tempts Louis that he can save Claudia the same way when she is dying of the plague.
55	* DangerTakesABackseat: After Louis ends the interview, Daniel drives home, reviewing the tapes [[spoiler:when Lestat pulls him back and bites his neck, then takes the wheel.]]
56	-->[[spoiler:''I assume I need no introduction?'']]
57	* DeathSeeker: Louis seems to be this at the start of the film, outright stating that he'd "be happy to join" his dead wife and child and even opening his shirt to make shooting him easier when a man threatens him with a pistol.
58	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Louis owns a plantation and slaves. For all his morality he's still a man of his time who sees nothing wrong with this. That said he does treat the slaves on the plantation (relatively) well [[spoiler: and frees them before burning down his house.]]
59	* DeliberatelyCuteChild: Claudia uses this kind of behavior to lure and play with her prey. One particular scene shows her sitting on a bench crying and letting the woman who comes to help her hug for longer than necessary before biting her.
60	* DiagonalCut: Louis slashes at Santiago with a scythe as they taunt each other, while [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Louis's burning down the Theatre]]. Santiago pauses for a few puzzled beats, as it appears Louis has missed — until a diagonal section of the rival's upper torso falls off.
61	* DiegeticSwitch: At the end, [[spoiler:Lestat cuts off the tape of Louis's interview]] and tunes the radio to "Sympathy for the Devil" by Music/{{The Rolling Stones\|Band}}. The song plays through the end credits.
62	* DisposableSexWorker: Lestat kills a prostitute and torments a second one to force Louis to kill her and accept his role as a murderer. However, his preferred victims are nobles.
63	* DracoInLeatherPants: In-universe. Louis gives an interview to share his tragic story of being a monstrous creature of the night. His interviewer completely misses the point and all he hears is "vampires are awesome". Louis is equal parts pissed off and disappointed.
64	* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: Daniel utterly fails to understand the main point that Louis was trying to get across to him when he asks if he can become a vampire. Louis has just spent the night detailing to him how much his un-life sucks, yet Daniel can only see how cool it is to live forever. Louis flips out and leaves the interview when he hears that.
65	* DropDeadGorgeous:
66	** Armand's stage show involves stripping a young woman naked before killing her. The camera lingers on her body before his minions descend on her.
67	** Claudia hides the naked body of a beautiful woman with her dolls--reflecting her inability to ever grow into an adult.
68	* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: The film both increased it by letting us see Louis' veins through his skin and generally putting us outside his own narration, and decreased it by turning his jet-black hair brown. It also turned Armand into this, where he was a cherubic young redhead (though no less creepy) in the books.
69	* TheEndOrIsIt: [[spoiler:After Daniel finishes his interview with Louis, Lestat confronts him and offers him death or vampirism. It is left ambiguous which Daniel picks.]]
70	* EnfanteTerrible: Claudia is a little girl who was turned into a vampire by Lestat to give Louis a surrogate child. Upon becoming a vampire, she is a blood-thirsty murderous child who lures people to her by pretending to be lost so she can kill and feed off them.
71	* EventTitle: ''Interview with the Vampire''.
72	* EvilDetectingDog: Louis is attempting (clumsily) to seduce and then kill an elderly woman. Her pet poodles, however, won't stop barking at him, evidently sensing the ill intentions of the vampire -- and the noise drives him to kill them instead.
73	* ExecutionByExposure: [[spoiler:Claudia and her recently turned caretaker, Madeleine, are both executed by being left to be exposed to the sun. Unlike the book--where she's KilledOffscreen while Louis is trapped in a coffin--they're seen being dragged screaming to the hole they're are placed in during the night; when the sun rises, they wake to see the sunrise and the two desperately cling to each other screaming before the sunlight kills them both. Louis, when released, immediately asks about her and finds their ash bodies clinging to each other, which crumble at his touch. [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge He doesn't take it well]].]]
74	* ExpositionOfImmortality: Lestat, Louis and Claudia all move through decades and centuries without aging or changing in the slightest. ''Interview'' is, in and of itself, a book of ExpositionOfImmortality; since it's about a vampire telling a reporter the story of his unlife and all the things and times gone by he remembers living through.
75	* ExpressiveHair: Claudia's hair becomes curled and doll-like when she is turned into a vampire. Thereafter, whenever she tries to trim it, it grows back the same way.
76	* FalseReassurance: Claudia, presenting Lestat with two victims, says "I promise I'll take care of the bodies!" Yes, theirs and Lestat's, once she cuts his throat — she's using the laudanum she already dosed them with to weaken Lestat.
77	* TheFogOfAges: Louis laments that he can remember the last sunrise he ever saw on the day he was turned in all its vivid detail, but can't seem to remember any sunrise before it.
78	* {{Foreshadowing}}: As she's turned, Claudia suckles on Lestat's wrist with greater ardour than Louis did, to the point of causing him pain. Her ravenous appetite will spell trouble for her "fathers" down the line.
79	* GenreDeconstruction: Of the vampire genre.
80	* GirlishPigtails: Claudia starts as an innocent girl, but when turned to a vampire she gradually becomes more jaded and evil while retaining the appearance of a child.
81	* GlamorFailure: PlayedWith. Louis steps under a bright light to convince Daniel of his ''true'' nature, but after a moment of shock, Daniel simply rationalises that away. Eventually, he is forced to use superspeed to drive the point in.
82	* AGlassOfChianti: Lestat pours rat blood in a wine glass, but it's disgusting to vampires.
83	* GoodHairEvilHair: Claudia and Lestat both have long curly blonde hair, and are both evil to the core.
84	* GoodNightSweetPrince: "Good night, sweet Prince, may flights of devils wing you to your rest..." [[spoiler:Claudia De Lioncourt says this to Lestat, thinking she finished him off for good. He gets better.]]
85	* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: [[spoiler: Santiago]], courtesy of a scythe-wielding Louis.
86	* HandOrObjectUnderwear: Following her ShamefulStrip by the French vampires, the woman on stage at the Theatre covers her breasts and crotch with her arms and hands.
87	* HereWeGoAgain: The film ends with [[spoiler:Lestat attacking Daniel and draining him, then stating he's going to "give you the choice I never had..."]]
88	* HomoeroticSubtext: May as well be ''Homoerotic Subtext: TheMovie''. Lestat and Louis raise a kid together (whom Lestat turned to [[TheBabyTrap try and keep Louis with him]]), bicker LikeAnOldMarriedCouple and just generally come across as being very intimate with each other beyond friendship. And this is only really scratching the surface. The novel is even more explicit about this, such as having Lestat and Louis share a coffin.
89	* IHateYouVampireDad:
90	** Louis has... mixed feelings towards Lestat, both loving him for giving him the "Dark Gift" and essentially saving him from despair and death, and hating him for condemning him to an un-life of sterility.
91	** Claudia takes this up a notch towards Lestat--even attempting to kill him. Though she states, despite also holding Louis partially responsible for her condition, she cannot bring herself to hate him as she is all too familiar with the hunger that drove him to kill her.
92	* ILoveYouVampireSon: Lestat, meanwhile, loves Louis deeply, even if he hides it behind cruelty and sarcasm.
93	* ImportantHaircut: Claudia refuses to be Lestat's doll by cutting off her golden locks, but they grow right back.
94	* ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty: Averted with Claudia, who's only eleven ([[AgeLift five in the books]]) when she becomes a vampire and stays that way.
95	* IncestantAdmirer: Claudia for Louis. Due to her vampire curse, Claudia is stuck forever in a young child's body, but her mind psychologically ages over time to that of an adult. This results in her developing impure feelings for her adoptive father, Louis, who only sees her as a daughter. She becomes jealous when she learns of Louis' attraction toward Armand and demands a new parental substitute should he leave her for Armand. She even calls him "love" and kisses him on the lips goodbye.
96	* InherentInTheSystem: The psychological weight of having to drink the blood of the living drives Louis to try to commit suicide. He compromises by feeding off rats and chickens, although Lestat tries to convince him to feed off "evildoers" to ease his conscience. Lestat himself being utterly [[ItsAllAboutMe self-centered]], doesn't have any moral hangups about sucking dry anyone who crosses his path.
97	* ItGetsEasier: Shortly after being turned, Louis notices that he isn't quite comfortable with the thought that he might end up killing another person by draining them completely. Lestat, in turn, tells him to "forget about that mortal coil", saying that he will come to accept the idea sooner rather than later.
98	%% * {{Jerkass}}: Lestat. However, it could be argued that, by the end, he's become a JerkassWoobie.
99	* JumpScare:
100	** In the opening, Louis scares the interviewer Daniel by swiftly turning on the lights, demonstrating his vampire speed.
101	** In the cemetery, Lestat lunging toward Louis and sucking his blood.
102	** Later, after Lestat supposedly dies and Louis and Claudia are getting ready to leave Louisiana, Louis goes to answer the door but finds nobody there. Suddenly, a decrepit Lestat attacks him.
103	* KillItWithFire: [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Louis burns the French vampires and their theatre for killing Claudia.]] Anyone who tries to escape gets mowed down with a scythe.
104	* KissOfTheVampire: A prostitute is lying there contentedly enjoying Lestat's attentions to her breast until she looks down and realizes she's bleeding out from him being something of a messy eater.
105	* LargeHam: Virtually every single one of Lestat's lines falls under this category, with a few choice contributions from Louis.
106	** "For [[PunctuatedForEmphasis DO. NOT. DOUBT!!!]] You are a KILLER, Louis!"
107	** "And YES YOUR MASTER IS THE DEVIL!"
108	** This is actually a large part of Lestat's character appeal; his longer life-span in the books is often chalked up to the fact that, despite not being as tortured and sympathetic as Louis, he is far more entertaining. At some points in the books he even seems to acknowledge this about himself.
109	* LesbianVampire: Gender-flipped. Lestat making Louis a vampire is all but an outright seduction.
110	* LivingForeverIsAwesome: Lestat seems to live the vampire life of living forever and indulging his sadistic impulses. Other vampires, including Louis, [[WhoWantsToLiveForever find it more of a burden]].
111	* LonelyDollGirl: Claudia has a whole bunch of dolls. Which, while she was growing up (in mind if not in body) she used to camouflage the fact that she'd kept the corpse of a woman she killed out of envy for the woman's adult body.
112	* LostLenore: Louis's wife and infant child, whose off-screen deaths triggered his downward spiral into depression (this is changed from the book, where Louis is depressed over his brother dying). Eventually, [[spoiler:Claudia]] becomes this for him too.
113	* ManOfWealthAndTaste: At the end, Lestat plays "Sympathy For The Devil" on a car radio. Granted he went out of style a few centuries ago and isn't looking his best, but he's still Lestat.
114	* ManlyTears: Louis sheds these while recounting [[spoiler:Claudia's death]].
115	* MirrorRoutine: When Louis first encounters Santiago, who happens to be dressed similarly to Louis, the other vampire decides to tease him for a bit by engaging in this. [[spoiler:He does at the end again, where Louis confronts him armed with a scythe. This time, however, Louis proves too fast for him.]]
116	* NeverGrewUp: Claudia, who is stuck permanently at the physical age of eleven, upped from five or six in the original book.
117	* NotGrowingUpSucks: A major reason Claudia is the way she is.
118	-->'''Louis:''' You see the old woman? That will never happen to you. You will never grow old. And you will never die.\
119	'''Claudia:''' And it means something else too, doesn't it? I shall never, ever grow up. Tell me how it came to be that I am this... ''thing''.
120	* OccultBlueEyes: The first physical sign of Louis being a vampire is his almost glowing, light blue eyes. Lestat have them too, though in a somewhat darker version.
121	* OffscreenTeleportation: Used by Louis to put the fear of God into Malloy. He explains it as superspeed.
122	* OpenShirtTaunt: Louis wins a hand of poker against a very temperamental opponent, who immediately accuses Louis of cheating and aims a pistol at his chest. Caught in a self-destructive downward spiral following the death of his wife and child, Louis opens his shirt and demands that the man follow through with his threat. Instead, he lowers his weapon and allows Louis to leave.
123	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: In the film at least:
124	** Vampires have super strength and speed (so fast that humans cannot even see them move), which increases as they age with no defined limit. They also have other powers like mind-reading and walking on walls, but such abilities vary from vampire to vampire. They can't transform into animals like bats or wolves, but one of them is shown to be able to fly (or at least [[PowerFloats levitate]]). They don't spread "the dark gift" purely by biting; they have to mix their blood with the victim. They stop aging when they are turned, making [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld ancient child]] vampires possible, and forbidden to create. Their unchanging nature is exemplified when their hair is cut: it immediately grows back to the way it was at the time they were turned. Interestingly, they do cast reflections.
125	** All the "traditional" methods of dealing with vampires like wooden stakes through the heart, holy symbols, crosses, holy water, garlic, silver, etc. are dismissed by Louis as "nonsense," implying that they have no vulnerability to them. They find it necessary to sleep through the day in coffins, though are shown awake indoors during the day on occasion. [[ExecutionByExposure Sunlight still burns them to a crisp]] and it is shown that [[OffWithHisHead decapitation]] or [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe bisection]] will kill them, but it seems that only another vampire has the strength and speed to kill one. Fire will also (eventually) kill them, but not always, depending on how quickly they act to put out the flames.
126	** They require copious amounts of blood every night to survive, with humans as their largest supply. They can [[VegetarianVampire survive on animals]], but that diet only keeps them just above starvation. They can only consume "live" blood, coming from victims whose hearts are still beating. Consuming "dead" blood from a corpse will weaken them considerably, if not outright kill them (older vampires like Lestat appear to be strong enough to survive the consumption of dead blood). Vampires in the film are extremely rare and seem to be unable to psychologically endure immortality for long (or adapt quickly enough to the changing world), the oldest one being merely 400 years old.
127	* OvershadowedByAwesome: Louis to Lestat. Even the novels point out that Louis retains more humanity than any other vampire, and that he actually ''cares'', which one could argue that makes his introverted, introspective tale much more compelling than Lestat, who became a rock star.
128	* ParentInducedExtendedChildhood: Lestat makes young Claudia into a vampire as a surrogate daughter to [[TheBabyTrap keep Louis from leaving him]]. As a vampire, she doesn't physically age - but she continues to emotionally and mentally mature, so Claudia gradually chafes at being treated like a child by Lestat, who insists on showing her off to neighbors as a piano-playing ChildProdigy and still [[DisneylandDad lavishes her with toys]] despite her being several decades old by that point. Even Louis can't help talking down to her like she's a little girl. [[spoiler: However, after the two of them seemingly murder Lestat - ''twice'' - Louis goes on to treat Claudia more like an adult during their time in Paris.]]
129	* PimpedOutDress: Claudia wears a few, as well as several other upper class women.
130	* PragmaticAdaptation: In the book Claudia was about five or six when she was turned; in the film she's substantially older (Kirsten Dunst was around twelve when the film premiered) because there's ''no'' way you could get a five-year-old to pull off what was required for the role. Likewise, Armand was aged up from 17 to remove pedophilic overtones from his relationship with Louis.
131	* PragmaticVillainy: At one point Lestat scolds and berates Claudia for killing a seamstress after she pricked her finger...because now they will have to find someone else to finish the expensive dress she was making for Claudia, as well as his concern about never killing prey in their home( for fear of arousing suspicion). Lestat even asks her to show "a little more practicality."
132	* PrettyBoy: Many vampires fit in the pretty boy aesthetic with very pale complexion, making them look androgynous.
133	* PrimalStance: Before attacking they turn beastly. You rarely see a vampire stroll across the ceiling, hands in his pockets and whistling; they're almost always growling, breathing heavily, and salivating.
134	* TheQueensLatin: A variation. Cruise, Dunst, and Pitt all speak with cultivated American diction, when all three should be speaking French.
135	* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler:Lestat is poisoned with "dead blood" and his throat is slit, which seemingly kills him. Then he's dumped in a swamp, which he returns from horribly disfigured. Then he's set on fire. Ultimately subverted when it's revealed he survived that too, albeit significantly weakened.]]
136	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Claudia. This applies to all vampires in general because of the 'never aging past the point you were turned' thing, but Claudia is the most extreme example, still resembling a little girl despite being close to a hundred towards the end of the film [[spoiler:before her death]].
137	* ReplacementGoldfish: Claudia wants to make Madeline a vampire to replace Louis, who she fears will leave her for Armand. Madeline is fully willing to become a vampire so Claudia (who can never die) can replace her deceased daughter. It's almost a triple example. Claudia either can't grow, or is growing very slowly. She asks for Louis to make Madeline a vampire so she can do what Claudia cannot, since she ''is'' physically a child.
138	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Louis goes on a doozy of one through the Théâtre des Vampires after [[spoiler:Claudia is [[ExecutionByExposure executed by sunlight]] by Armand's vampires. He (complete with a dead-eyed stare) pours a flammable liquid (likely kerosene, given the era) around them and onto the coffins while they sleep, then throws a lit candelabra stand down, lighting the place up with flames. He then murders anyone who emerges still moving with a scythe, starting by [[OffWithHisHead decapitating the first one]] when she screams for help and ending by [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe bisecting Santiago]] before he escapes.]]
139	%% * RomanticVampireBoy: Or at least Lestat wants to be.
140	* RuleOfSymbolism: When Louis discovers cinema and is cherishing the ability to see colours and daytime again, there's a shot from Film/{{Superman\|TheMovie}}. While colour film had been around long before it was made, it does provide a contrast for Louis, as Superman is a fantastical being that is a friend to the masses rather than a predator and gains power from the sun instead of being killed by it. Just as vampires are envied by mortals for their ability to stay young and cheat death, we see that vampires have their own personal envies.
141	* SanctuaryOfSolitude: Louis visits the church on his old plantation. It's a rare case of self-inflicted LastSecondChance.
142	* ShamefulStrip: At the Théâtre des Vampires, the French vampires force a young human woman onto the stage and strip her completely naked in front of the audience before murdering her, without the audience knowing she is a real victim.
143	* SinisterScythe: One of the French vampires uses a scythe when playing death in the "Théâtre des Vampires", using it to cut things on stage. It is later used by Louis in his RoaringRampageOfRevenge against said French vampires, with lethal effects.
144	* SomethingElseAlsoRises: Lestat and Louis, rising into the air as Lestat feeds on Louis. Then Louis says no, and ''splash''. Happy time's over.
145	* SparedByTheAdaptation: Armand has a little boy that he keeps around to drink from. In the book he's killed off fairly inconsequentially; in the film he's last seen as the coach driver that drives Armand and Louis away from the burning theatre.
146	* SpiritualSuccessor: Neil Jordan had previously directed the film ''Film/TheCompanyOfWolves'' based on the short story collection by Angela Carter. It heavily involved werewolves, and he intended to adapt some of her vampire stories as well, until her death made this impossible. He mentions in the DVDCommentary for ''Interview'' that this film was the one he made in place of it.
147	* StealthHiBye: A variation when Louis turns on the light and sits down next to the interviewer in an instant, without Molloy seeing any movement.
148	* StubbornHair: Played for pathos when Claudia cuts off her long curly hair in frustration over being a vampire child... only for it to grow back, beautiful as ever.
149	* SuperStrength: All vampires have supernatural strength, though Louis' unique gift seems to be even greater strength than normal.
150	* TailorMadePrison: The planned punishment for Louis is "eternity in a box". He's released by Armand in a few hours, but too late to prevent Claudia's [[ExecutionByExposure death via sunlight exposure]].
151	* TaintedVeins: The vampires have visible veins on their faces, too, but that was as much due to their creepily transparent porcelain white skin as it was to their veins being full of freshly drunk blood.
152	* TallDarkAndHandsome: Louis. It comes with being played by the quite handsome Creator/BradPitt, and spending most of the time in a depressed, brooding funk, both as human and vampire.
153	* TechnologyMarchesOn: In-universe, Louis greatly appreciates this happening. With the invention of color film, he's managed to watch all the sunrises he wants... in motion pictures.
154	* TranquilFury: Louis displays this during his RoaringRampageOfRevenge after [[spoiler:Claudia's death]].
155	* TranslationConvention: An interesting question: Is this in effect entirely through the flashback narrative? Obviously, Louis is translating everything for Daniel's benefit, and we can assume naturally that the scenes in colonial Louisiana and Paris are in French, but what about after the TimeSkip when New Orleans became American?
156	* UndeadChild: The gleefully murderous Claudia is one. She is aged up from 5 years old in the book to around 12 in the movie, but this does not lessen her creepy child vibes at all. Her condition also gets played for drama once she realizes that she CantGrowUp, leading her to deeply resent Lestat for turning her.
157	* VegetarianVampire: Vampires can feed off the blood of animals, although Lestat notes that he wouldn't call it living; he'd call it ''surviving''. Louis, being uncomfortable with the idea of killing a person, tries to make un-living on an all-animal diet work, but he only ends up demonstrating that the blood of rats and chickens fall far short of sating a vampire.
158	* WarmBloodbagsAreEverywhere: Louis feels tremendous shame and guilt over feeding on people, so he resorts to consuming the chickens he owns and any rats he comes across. Needless to say, this is portrayed as being like malnutrition at best or semi-starvation at worst to a normal person. Ironically, this means that anyone close to Louis is in tremendous danger of his bloodlust without him intending or realizing it.
159	* WhamLine: [[spoiler:When Lestat attacks Daniel in his car. "I assume I need no introduction?"]]
160	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Louis is more tormented by his ageless existence than Lestat, while Armand confesses that the vast majority of vampires grow weary of immortality and decide to embrace death rather than go on, which is likely one of the reasons their numbers are not greater. Initially Claudia embraces her "dark gift" with a great amount of murderous zeal and loves being spoiled by her adopted vampire parents. However as she matures mentally she comes to realise the long-term implications of physically being a child forever and deeply resents she will never experience being a woman. [[spoiler:At the end, even Lestat seems to have some understanding of this, as he offers Daniel "the choice I never had" instead of simply turning him outright.]]
161	* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Lestat applauds Louis and singing his praises upon finding the latter bent over the neck of a child. Louis' shame and disgust with himself is counter to Lestat's rather enthusiastic approval.
162	-->'''Lestat:''' My philosopher! My martyr! "Never take a human life." This calls for a celebration!\
163	'''Louis:''' ''(runs off, weeping)''\
164	'''Lestat:''' Come back! You are what you are! ''(to himself)'' Merciful Death, how you love your precious guilt.
165	* YourVampiresSuck: A fantastic example of this occurs when Malloy starts asking Louis if he is affected by the usual vampire weaknesses, specifically mentioning crucifixes. Louis responds by saying he actually rather enjoys looking at crucifixes. He even describes such superstitions as the "ravings of a demented Irishman," a TakeThat at Creator/BramStoker. What makes this ironic is that one of the only bits of vampire lore that Creator/AnneRice's vampires abide by is [[ExecutionByExposure death by sunlight]]. Which is not only not part of real vampire lore, but entered into popular culture as a plot contrivance in ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'' — itself an adaption of ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''.

Context Film / InterviewWithTheVampire