Michael Rymer
La Regina Dei Dannati

THE REVIEW

The only beautiful thing about «The Queen of the Damned» is the soundtrack. The story, which theoretically should be taken from the novel of the same name by Anne Rice, a master of the gothic genre (let's remember «Interview with the Vampire», «The Vampire Armand», «Pandora»), is completely distorted and incomprehensible compared to the original text.

The actors (Steuart Townend as Lestat and the late Aaliyah as Queen Akasha) are improbable, insecure in their performances, and physically light years away from the description Rice gives us of them. It's normal for an entire novel to be condensed when turned into a film version; it's also normal for some passages to be changed. But here we have a total distortion of the story. Crucial passages are missing, almost all key characters are absent (the Ancients are just extras, when in the novel they are the true protagonists of the story); the costumes are crude and don't even vaguely respect the historical era they refer to (Queen Akasha should be an Egyptian sovereign, but judging by the stage costumes she looks like Teela, He-Man's companion!).

An ugly and boring movie. Townsend, in his attempts to appear as a charming and sensual vampire, becomes effeminate and clumsy: I think anyone who has read Rice's novel would reject this film on all fronts; those who haven't read it, I doubt they can find this film engaging or even watchable. The only star awarded to this film is due to the soundtrack, which features excellent tracks, such as «Forsaken» by David Draiman of Disturbed, «Redeemer» by Marilyn Manson, «Cold» by Static-X, and several other interesting pieces.