''Queen of the Damned'' is a 2002

vampire film Vampire films have been a staple in world cinema since the era of silent films, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptat ...

directed by

Michael Rymer Michael Rymer (born 1 March 1963 in Melbourne) is an Australian television and film director, best known for his work on the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' TV series, for which he directed the pilot miniseries and several episodes of the ...

, loosely based on the third novel of

Anne Rice Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien; October 4, 1941 – December 11, 2021) was an American author of gothic fiction, erotic literature, and Christian literature. She was best known for her series of novels '' The Vampire Chronicles'' ...

's '' The Vampire Chronicles'' series, ''

The Queen of the Damned ''The Queen of the Damned'' (1988) is a horror novel by American writer Anne Rice, the third in her '' The Vampire Chronicles'' series. It follows ''Interview with the Vampire'' and ''The Vampire Lestat''. This novel is a continuation of the ...

'' (1988), although the film contains many plot elements from the novel's predecessor '' The Vampire Lestat''. A

stand-alone sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to ''

Interview with the Vampire ''Interview with the Vampire'' is a gothic horror and vampire novel by American author Anne Rice, published in 1976. It was her debut novel. Based on a short story Rice wrote around 1968, the novel centers on vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac ...

'' (1994), the film stars Stuart Townsend,

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...

in her final film role,

Marguerite Moreau Marguerite Moreau (born April 25, 1977) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Jesse Reeves in the fantasy horror film ''Queen of the Damned'', Katie in the comedy ''Wet Hot American Summer'', and her role as Connie in '' The Mig ...

, Vincent Pérez and Lena Olin. Townsend and Matthew Newton replaced

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...

and

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival ...

in the roles Lestat and Armand respectively. The film is dedicated to Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash on August 25, 2001, after she had shot all her scenes. Released on February 22, 2002, in North America and on April 4, 2002, in Australia, it received generally negative reviews from critics and did not perform well at the box office.

Plot

The vampire Lestat is awakened from decades of slumber by the sound of a

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest ha ...

band, and proceeds to take over as their lead singer. Achieving international success, Lestat, having revealed the existence of vampires, taunts the others of his kind during an interview for promoting his first and only live concert.

Jesse Reeves The following is a list of characters from Anne Rice's '' The Vampire Chronicles'', which began with the 1976 novel ''Interview with the Vampire''. The series primarily follows the antihero Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman turned into a va ...

, a researcher for the paranormal studies group

Talamasca The Talamasca, sometimes known as the Order of the Talamasca, is a fictional secret society described in the works of Anne Rice. It features in both '' The Vampire Chronicles'' and ''Lives of the Mayfair Witches'' series. It is described as a secr ...

, is intrigued by Lestat's lyrics after hearing one of his songs play on TV and tells the rest of the group her theory that he really is a vampire. Her mentor,

David Talbot David Talbot (born September 22, 1951) is an American journalist, author, activist and independent historian. Talbot is known for his books about the "hidden history" of U.S. power and the liberal movements to change America, as well as his p ...

, takes her aside and tells her they know what he is and that a vampire called Marius made him. David also shows her Lestat's journal that he recovered and gives it to Jesse for her to read on the condition that she promises not to pursue Lestat. In the journal, Lestat recalls how he was turned into a vampire by Marius and how he awoke

Akasha Akasha or Akash (Sanskrit ' ) means space or sky or æther in traditional Indian cosmology, depending on the religion. The term has also been adopted in Western occultism and spiritualism in the late 19th century. In many modern Indo-Aryan lan ...

, the first vampire, with his music. Unsatisfied with what she read, Jesse tracks Lestat down to a London vampire club called The Admiral's Arms, where he saves her from three vampires and confronts her about Marius. In Los Angeles, Lestat is visited by Marius, who warns him that the other vampires will not tolerate his flamboyant public profile. Marius also reveals that Lestat's new music has awakened Akasha and begs him to cancel his concert, which he refuses. Meanwhile, Akasha, who is searching for Lestat, arrives at The Admiral's Arms. After the vampires reveal their plan to kill Lestat at his concert, Akasha torches the club and kills all the vampires inside. Jesse arrives at Los Angeles and gives Lestat his journal back. She then asks him to show her what being a vampire is like. Lestat scoffs at the idea, but Jesse convinces him to spend his last moments before the concert with her. The two spend some time together and Jesse later asks Lestat to turn her, telling him she wants to be with him and that she wants to know everything he does. Lestat angrily refuses, and shows her what it's like for a vampire to feed aggressively on a human. He comes back to her asking her if this is truly what she wants, she recoils in fear from him, he scoffs at her agreeing and then leaves. While performing at his concert in

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in Nort ...

, a group of vampires attack Lestat. With Marius' help, they both fend off most of the vampires until Akasha bursts through the stage and takes Lestat with her. Akasha brings Lestat to her new home, where the two vampires have

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (or coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion and thrusting of the penis into the vagina for sexual pleasure or reproduction.Sexual intercourse most commonly means penile–vaginal pene ...

, during which time Lestat becomes spellbound by Akasha and is forced to obey her, and Akasha proclaims Lestat her new king. After the concert, Jesse is taken to the home of her aunt,

Maharet The following is a list of characters from Anne Rice's '' The Vampire Chronicles'', which began with the 1976 novel ''Interview with the Vampire''. The series primarily follows the antihero Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman turned into a va ...

, who later reveals herself to be one of the Ancient Vampires. Knowing Akasha's plan to take over the world, the Ancient Vampires discuss their plans to destroy the Queen by drinking from her and draining her of her blood. However, they believe that whoever drinks the Queen's last drop will not survive. Empowered by Akasha's blood, Lestat and the Queen confront the Ancient Vampires. When they refuse to join her, Akasha then commands Lestat to kill Jesse, as The Queen sees her both as an enemy, due to being Maharet's descendant, and as food, with Akasha making an example out of her for those who dare disobey her command. Lestat ostensibly obeys, but after drinking Jesse's blood, comes to his senses and is released from Akasha's power. He angrily requests for his "crown" and Akasha openly gives him her arm to feed on. Lestat then turns on her and begins to drain Akasha's blood. With the help of the Ancients, Akasha's power diminishes. Maharet is the last to drink Akasha's blood, killing Akasha. Lestat goes to Jesse and, cradling her in his arms, gives her his blood as Maharet turns into a marble statue and "sleeps", becoming the new Queen of the Damned. Lestat and Jesse, who is now a vampire, visit David and return Lestat's journal. When asked by David what it is like, Jesse offers to turn him into a vampire to which he replies he's too old for immortality. Jesse then bids David goodbye and goes to embrace him. David shows fear and rejects the embrace, sensing his hesitation Jesse looks hurt but nods in understanding. She leaves with Lestat. A few moments later, David is greeted by Marius. The film closes with Lestat and Jesse walking hand in hand, among mortals, into the night.

Cast

* Stuart Townsend as Lestat ** Matthew Lassall as Lestat's Violinist Double *

as Jesse ** Rachael Tanner as Young Jesse * Paul McGann as

* Lena Olin as

* Christian Manon as Mael * Claudia Black as

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek language, Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions ...

* Vincent Perez as Marius *

Bruce Spence Bruce Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand–Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre. Biography Spence won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1971 comedy ...

as Khayman * Matthew Newton as Armand *

Pia Miranda Pia Miranda (born 15 June 1973) is an Australian actress whose career was launched with her role in the 2000 feature film '' Looking for Alibrandi'', an Australian film based on the novel of the same name by Melina Marchetta. She is also know ...

as Jesse's Roommate Jonathan Davis played a Scalper and also provided the uncredited singing voice for Lestat. In addition to Davis, several real-life musicians also appeared in the film including Darren Wilson as Sound Engineer,

Rowland S. Howard Rowland Stuart Howard (24 October 1959 – 30 December 2009) was an Australian rock musician, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the post-punk group The Birthday Party and his subsequent solo career. Early life Rowland Stua ...

as Vampire Guitarist,

Hugo Race Hugo Justin Race (born 23 May 1963) is an Australian rock musician and record producer who had been based in Europe from 1989 to 2011. He was a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1983–85), and The Wreckery (1984–89) with Nick Barker a ...

as Vampire Bass,

Robin Casinader Robin Romesh Casinader is an Australian composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist. He has been a member of many bands including Plays with Marionettes with Hugo Race, the Wreckery with Race and Nick Barker, and Dave Graney and the Coral Snak ...

as Vampire Pianist, and former Jerk member Johnathan Devoy as James.

Serena Altschul Serena Altschul (born October 13, 1970) is an American broadcast journalist, known for her work at MTV News and CBS. Early life and education Altschul was born in New York City, a daughter of author and botanist Siri von Reis and Arthur Altsc ...

made a cameo as herself.

Development

Warner Bros. had acquired the film rights to several of

's novels—the first three ''

Vampire Chronicles ''The Vampire Chronicles'' is a series of gothic horror novels and a media franchise, created by American writer Anne Rice, that revolves around the fictional character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman turned into a vampire in the 18t ...

'' and '' The Mayfair Witches'' trilogy—after a 1988 takeover of Lorimar Productions. An eventual adaptation of ''

'' (directed by

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish film director, screenwriter, novelist and short-story writer. His first book, '' Night in Tunisia'', won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1979. He won an Academ ...

and produced by

David Geffen David Lawrence Geffen (born February 21, 1943) is an American business magnate, producer and film studio executive. He co-created Asylum Records in 1971 with Elliot Roberts, Geffen Records in 1980, DGC Records in 1990, and DreamWorks SKG in ...

) was released in 1994, although not without controversy, particularly over fan reaction to the casting of

as Lestat, an objection initially shared by Anne Rice, which she recanted after seeing the finished film. After the commercial and critical success of ''Interview'', Neil Jordan began initial development of the novel's sequel, ''The Vampire Lestat'', although this went nowhere. As the rights to the novels would revert to Anne Rice at the end of 2000, initial story meetings to adapt one or both of the remaining Vampire Chronicles began in 1998. The decision was made early to substantially rewrite the plot, and to base most of the movie on the third book: ''The Vampire Lestat'' was considered too broad and episodic for a two-hour feature film, although the novel's setup of Lestat's awakening and career as a rock star was used. It was also decided to focus on Lestat as the primary character, and the back story of Akasha and the Story of the Twins were omitted, despite these being virtually central to the plot of the novel. Displeased with the lack of progress, and more particularly with the studio's lack of consultation with her over the script development, author Anne Rice wrote a critical reply to a fan's question about the film in 1998: During 1999, the script was developed by TV screenwriter

Scott Abbott Charles Scott Abbott is the co-inventor of the board game Trivial Pursuit along with Chris Haney (Trivial Pursuit), Chris Haney. Abbott is the owner of the North Bay Battalion hockey team of the Ontario Hockey League. For his work in building th ...

and Australian writer/director Michael Petroni. Another Australian,

, was confirmed to direct. Rymer suggested the film be shot in his home city of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

, which would save considerably on production costs. The first actor cast was R&B singer

(who had made her film and acting debut in '' Romeo Must Die'') as Akasha, the eponymous Queen of the Damned. The search for an actor to play Lestat took much longer—the idea of

reprising the role was considered but dismissed—although front runners included Wes Bentley, Josh Hartnett and

Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...

. Irish actor Stuart Townsend assumed the role in 2000, and the final cast included Vincent Perez as Marius, Paul McGann as David Talbot, Lena Olin as Maharet and

as Jesse Reeves. Australian actors included Claudia Black as Pandora and Matthew Newton as Armand.

Production

With a large cast of international and Australian actors, ''Queen of the Damned'' began principal photography on October 2, 2000 and ended on February 27, 2001, in a former biscuit factory, converted into a studio in the Melbourne suburb of St. Albans. Location filming took place around the city of Melbourne, although some filming was done in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. For the scenes of Lestat's concert in

, over 3000

goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...

were recruited from Melbourne nightclubs and on the Internet, then driven on a fleet of buses to a quarry in

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census. Werribee i ...

to act as extras.

Soundtracks

The songs for Lestat's band were written and performed by Jonathan Davis of the

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

band

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...

, and Richard Gibbs, although Davis's contractual commitments to

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyou ...

meant that his vocals could not appear on the soundtrack album. Instead, the vocals were re-recorded by other musicians for the soundtrack's official release: Wayne Static of

Static-X Static-X is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1994. The line-up has fluctuated over the years, but was long-held constant with band founder, frontman, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Wayne Static until hi ...

("Not Meant for Me"),

David Draiman David Michael Draiman ( he, דוד מיכאל דריימן; born March 13, 1973) is an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distorted, operatic, baritone voice and percussive singing style, he is best known as the lead vocalist of the h ...

of Disturbed ("Forsaken"), Chester Bennington of

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drumm ...

("System"),

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

("Redeemer"), and Jay Gordon of

Orgy In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party consisting of at least five members where guests freely engage in open and unrestrained sexual activity or group sex. Swingers' parties do not always conform to this designation, because at many swin ...

("Slept So Long"). During the end credits "Not Meant for Me" is played. It is Jonathan Davis' version although the credits list it as the Wayne Static version from the album. Davis also made a small cameo in the film. When Jesse arrives in Los Angeles, a scalper (Jonathan Davis) attempts to sell her tickets to Lestat's show. The soundtrack also contains other songs featured in the film: "Body Crumbles" by

Dry Cell upLine art drawing of a dry cell: 1. brass cap, 2. plastic seal, 3. expansion space, 4. porous cardboard, 5. zinc can, 6. carbon rod, 7. chemical mixture A dry cell is a type of electric battery, commonly used for portable electrical devices. Unl ...

, "Cold" by

, "Dead Cell" by

Papa Roach Papa Roach is an American rock band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, guitarist Jerry Horton, drummer Dave Buckner, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luther. After t ...

, "Excess" by Tricky, "Headstrong" by Earshot, "Penetrate" by Godhead, " Down with the Sickness" by Disturbed, "

Change (In the House of Flies) "Change (In the House of Flies)", often referred to as "Change", is a song by American alternative metal band Deftones, released as the first single from their third album, ''White Pony'', on May 16, 2000. It remains their most commercially succe ...

" by

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first f ...

and "Before I'm Dead" by Kidneythieves. The score for the film was also composed by Gibbs and Davis. Both the main soundtrack album and score album were released in 2002.

Frank Fitzpatrick Francis Edward Fitzpatrick (born April 13, 1961), more commonly known as Frank Fitzpatrick, is an American composer, music producer, author, filmmaker and social entrepreneur. Fitzpatrick is best known for his career in the film and music in ...

and Rich Dickerson were the Music Supervisors for the film and the soundtrack album. The original studio recording of "Careless (Akasha's Lament)" was written and produced by Davis and Gibbs, during the ''Queen of the Damned'' sessions. Vocals were by Davis, keyboards by Gibbs, guitars by James Shaffer, Brian Welch, and Davis, and drums by Vinnie Colaiuta. Davis released the song in downloadable form via

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

and

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

on November 16, 2007. Plans to record a duet between Aaliyah and Davis never materialised, due to Aaliyah's death.

Release

Author's reaction

By July 2001, author Anne Rice had mellowed her previous stance on the film, much as she had with ''Interview''. When asked about the film's progress, she answered:

Everything I hear about the movie is good. Warner Bros. is extremely enthusiastic. They are working very hard to make it perfect. I have no real news. Let me repeat what I mentioned in a recent message. I met Stuart Townsend, the young man who is playing Lestat and he was absolutely charming. He had Lestat's excellent speaking voice and his feline grace. I cannot wait to see him in the film.

By late 2001, Rice had seen the completed film and was sufficiently satisfied to allow her name to be used on promotional material, although she later became disillusioned about it and dismissed the film in 2003, a year after its release, stating that a television series format would be more suited to the source material. Subsequently, Rice urged fans on her

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

page to "simply forget" about the film, which she said was something she could not relate to as far as her work was concerned and that it hurt her to see her work "mutilated" as it had been depicted.

Public and critical reaction

''Queen of the Damned'' was released on February 22, 2002 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics, with several reviewers such as

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

describing it as "goofy" or "damned". The film has an approval "rotten" rating of 17% at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on 130 reviews, with the site's consensus calling the film "A muddled and campy

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

-styled vampire movie with lots of eye candy and bad accents." Despite negative reviews, ''Queen of the Damned'' nonetheless topped the box office on its opening weekend, against fairly weak competition. The film grossed $45.5 million on a $35 million budget.

Allan Menzies

In December 2002, ten months after the film released, Allan Menzies, an obsessed fan from

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geographically by the A ...

, Scotland, killed his friend, Thomas McKendrick and drank his blood. After his arrest, he claimed in court that it was Aaliyah's character Queen Akasha from the film that told him to do it.

Home media

''Queen of the Damned'' was released on DVD on August 27, 2002. ''Queen of the Damned'' was released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

on September 18, 2012, and re-released on Blu-ray on February 7, 2017.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Of The Damned 2002 fantasy films 2002 films 2002 horror films 2000s American films 2000s Australian films 2000s English-language films 2000s supernatural horror films American fantasy films American supernatural horror films American vampire films Australian fantasy films Australian supernatural horror films Films based on American horror novels Films based on multiple works of a series Films based on works by Anne Rice Films directed by Michael Rymer Films scored by Richard Gibbs Films shot in Melbourne Films shot in Los Angeles Village Roadshow Pictures films Warner Bros. films Works based on The Vampire Chronicles