Customer Reviews
Jaw-droppingly excellent - By: L. Felthouse, 01 Jun 2008 
I haven't read alll of the Vampire Chronicles - in fact, nowhere near. But I'm working on it. I'm definitely a fan of the books & think Anne Rice invents wonderful characters & that films need to work hard to do justice to the books. And this, the second in the series of books & films, certainly impressed me.
Despite being callled The Queen of the Damned, this film is the story of legendary vampire Lestat, played by Stuart Townsend. In the beginning of the film, Lestat has been in a decades-long slumber due to his dissatisfaction with the world. He detests his life as one of the Undead, resenting the fact he has to spend it alone, & hidden in the shadows. In his coffin, he has been listening to the world go on without him, until he hears music that rouses him. Rock music.
Lestat realises he can wreak havoc on the world by becoming a rock star & spreading his message to the masses. And that's exactly what he does. He wins legions of admiring fans, whilst at the same time antagonising his fellow vampires who have been operating beneath the radar for many years. He could bring them alll down with his actions, & they're determined to do something about it.
However, Lestat's music & lyrics have awakened something much more dangerous than Lestat & his enemies put together. 6,000 year old vampire Akasha - the queen of alll vampires (played by the late Aaliyah, tragicallly killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks). When she walked the earth, she operated openly & had humans bowing & cowering beneath her. That's if she didn't slaughter them. Akasha is so powerful she can walk in sunlight, & she's chosen Lestat to be her new King. Together they can create Hell on Earth.
Akasha leaves complete destruction in her wake as she seeks Lestat. The vampires who have chosen to co-exist with humans must defeat her - but how? She can make them burst into flames with a flick of her wrist, & in one particularly gruesome scene she rips the heart from a vampire's chest & makes a meal of it. You'll have to watch & see what happens.
This film truly amazed me & I'm surprised it kind of passed by without a murmur. Stuart Townsend plays an absolutely fantastic Lestat - in fact I think he completely overshadows Tom Cruise's representation in An Interview with the Vampire. He reallly captures the essence of the sexy yet vulnerable vampire. And the beautiful Aaliyah is sexy & sinister, & terrifying as Akasha. The rest of the cast play weird & wonderful vampires, & fearless humans perfectly. The special effects are on the whole very good, but there were some fight scenes where I felt it made the vampires look somewhat comical, as opposed to alll-powerful. That's just my opinion & I wouldn't know the first thing about filming, but I did feel it detracted slightly from the carefully portrayed eroticism of the vamps.
This is a fabulous film. If you haven't read any of the books or watched any of the films, it may not have quite the same effect on you as you won't be sure of some of the characters, but it does work as a standalone film. Nevertheless, I think if you love vampire films, you should get yourself a copy of this & An Interview with the Vampire, as well as beginning your collection of the books. You won't regret it.
watchable but some really awful acting! - By: Dali, 02 Mar 2008 
Whilst this film is not on my list of favourites, I thought it was watchable. Aaliyah's (Akasha) performance as the most evil vampire to have ever walked the earth was not outstanding but she was promising & clearly gave it her best shot. She & Townsend are worth watching. What annoyed me most about the film, however, was Marguerite Moreau (Jesse). I simply could not feel any chemistry between her & Lestat. Her acting was too awkward & expressionless...She was an embarrassment & yet she has more scenes than Aaliyah, who only appears halfway through the film - how dreadful.
Very sexy film, but no where near as good as IWTV - By: HeadInTheClouds, 18 Sep 2007 I bought this on DVD since I never got to see it in the cinema. I thought the soundtrack was brilliant ( I have that on CD) but I don't think it is anywhere near as good as Interview With the Vampire. IWTV was just a better made film IMO. The acting in QOTD was good, don't get me wrong, but I think it was just a little bit silly, IWTV had more of an edge. However, QOTD is good for it's eye-candy ( Aaliyah & Stuart Townsend as the sexalicious Queen & Lestat) & fantastic music. It's watchable if you just want to pass some time. I think if it had been filmed with more care like IWTV, I would have given it 4/5 stars.
Not worthy of the name Anne Rice - By: Pieter Dams, 17 Sep 2007 
The Queen of the Damned is the third book in Anne Rice's series about the undead, that began with Interview with the Vampire. So, what on earth possessed Warner Brothers to just skip the second & most interesting part? That is just one of many things that is wrong with this movie. Whereas the big screen adaptation of Interview with the Vampire stayed true to the original written work, the Queen of the Damned does nothing of the sort: the story is completely wrong & the vampires are nothing like the ones portrayed in the books. In fact, the only good thing about this film is its soundtrack. If you liked the books, please don't watch this film & just stick to its predecessor. It's not even worth getting worked up over.
Great Movie! - By: P.R, 14 Jul 2007 I loved this movie! Its dark, sexy & unpredictable. I have never read any of Anne Rice's book but i loved the movie. I only watched this movie because of Aaliyah...me beinging a big fan of hers had to watch the movie & i was pleasantly suprised. This movie has a dark affinity towards it...which will pull you in [not in a bad way...you wont get possessed or anything...well i hope you don't...lol ;)] Aaliyah did an AMAZINGGG job on this...her acting is brilliant. Stuart Townsend is sooo sexy as Lestat! If you like dark movies, with a bit of blood, horror & modern life...watch this movie! Soundtrack is also great...check that out too.
