THE MOVIE

Legendary Vampire Lestat has risen from a decades-long slumber, determined to step out into the light. No longer content with being banished to the shadows, moving among mortals who never truly see him for what he is, Lestat has reinvented himself as the closest thing to a god on Earth: a rock star.

The intoxicating lure of his music has snaked its way around the globe, ultimately finding the ear of the slumbering ancient Queen Akasha in her crypt beneath the Arctic ice. Mother of all Vampires, Akasha has been resting for centuries, waiting for the right time to rise again and seize dominion over the world. Lestat’s music is the revelation she has been waiting for, and she desires that he rule beside her.

But can Akasha be stopped? Her malevolent power may be too great for even the most ancient of the immortal Vampires to combat - she created them, and their survival depends on her own.

After all, Akasha is used to getting everything she wants... and all she wants is Hell on Earth.

YAWN! What a complete waste of time this film is. It should never have been made and although Stuart Townsend and Vincent Perez (as always) are good they can’t save this rubbish from its destiny on the bottom shelves of video stores around the country.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

As you would expect this DVD looks great. 2:35.1 wide and 16x9 enhanced the image is basically perfect. Everything is sharp and clear and you can see plenty of detail. Which is an enormous help in a movie containing so many dark scenes.

The film doesn’t feature many colors but those that are there look good and strong. Blacks in particular are very strong and shadow detail is excellent.

There also isn’t really any major problems with this transfer it is excellent.

Audio:

This film is about a band, need I say more?

Okay so you want me to. This film sounds really impressive and the DD 5.1 track will have your windows shaking. The only problem is that you’ve got to like Korn. You are constantly assaulted by noise with this soundtrack and it comes at you from every possible angle. Dialogue is firmly centered and sounds nice and clear, really helping to get the ludicrous dialogue across. All of the surrounds get called into play for effects and music and the subwoofer grunts away happily.

Very impressive, shame about the movie.

THE EXTRAS

We have a fair few extras here but frankly who really cares.

First up we have a commentary featuring the director, producer and one of the composers. This looks mainly at the novel and the film, comparing the two and although it does provide fans of the movie with some interesting tid-bits I found it a bit of a chore to sit through.

Like the movie we have wasn’t enough there was more of it! Here we get about half an hour of additional material. This is only interesting because it features a few more Australian actors and locales that didn’t make the film.

We get some documentaries next that cover a variety of aspects to do with the production including the death of Aaliyah. This is the most interesting extra especially for fans of the music.

We also get some music videos, song sequences, a gag reel, trailers and a bit about Anne Rice’s novels.

SUMMARY

Okay so I didn’t like this film but someone must have. However, as my brother said ‘why would you bother?’ and indeed that is true. There are so many better horror/vampire films out there that to spend your time watching this is a waste of good DVD watching time. As Jerry Seinfeld says, these are the types of things that use up all the time you’ve saved with velcro shoes and alike.

As is normally the case bad film, great DVD and this is no different. The audio and video are excellent and the extras are okay. If you are a fan of this film (why?) then this is a great DVD for you.