Queen of the Damned

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Movie
German title The queen of the damned
Original title Queen of the Damned
Country of production USA , Australia
original language English
Publishing year 2002
length 97 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Michael Rymer
script Scott Abbott ,
Michael Petroni
production Jorge Saralegui
music Richard Gibbs ,
Jonathan Davis
camera Ian Baker
cut Dany Cooper
occupation

The Queen of the Damned (original title: Queen of the Damned ) is a US-American-Australian vampire film and is based on the novels The Vampire Lestat (German: The Prince of Darkness ) and Queen of the Damned (German: The Queen of the Damned ) by Anne Rice . Plot elements and characters from both books were combined into a single story in the script.

content

At the end of the 18th century, Lestat is transformed into a vampire by the vampire Marius. This is the guardian of the "first parents" of all vampires, Akasha and Enkil, a former Egyptian royal couple who became the first vampires thousands of years ago through a curse. Since then they have remained as motionless statues in a twilight sleep. For Marius, Lestat is his pupil, whom he teaches that people should never know about the existence of vampires. Anyone who recognizes them as "supersensible beings" must be killed according to Marius. Marius and Lestat go their separate ways after an argument.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Lestat grew tired of its existence and withdrew to a grave. He wakes up after decades of sleep to the sounds of an amateur rock band. Enthusiastic about the music, he joins the band. His plan is to become successful as a rock star and then to reveal himself publicly as a vampire in order to provoke his fellows.

The London secret society Talamasca, which deals with supernatural phenomena, becomes aware of the vampire. After senior member David Talbot tells her about his research on vampires, especially Marius and Lestat, the young employee Jesse Reeves travels to America to contact Lestat. Jesse is a descendant of the vampire Maharet, an enemy of Akasha. When Lestat meets Jesse, he feels drawn to her.

Lestat's music, meanwhile, awakens Akasha from her twilight sleep. She kills her husband Enkil and goes in search of Lestat, who is to become her new king. Akasha's plan is to reign with Lestat, over both vampires and humans. On her way she causes a massacre among the vampires she meets.

Meanwhile, Lestat is preparing for his first open-air concert. Marius visits him and warns Lestat about Akasha and other vampires who want to take revenge on him. To help Lestat, Marius gathers a small group of old vampires with whom he goes to the concert. Maharet, who belongs to it and wants to protect Jesse, knows a way to destroy Akasha: So all her blood has to be sucked out. The last person to drink from her would then take on the role of the first mother. During the concert, some vampires from the audience attack Lestat. There is a general uproar when Akasha shows up and kidnaps Lestat.

Lestat is the first vampire to drink Akasha's blood, making him invincible to other vampires. Sunlight no longer harms him. However, Akasha's unscrupulousness is increasingly repulsing him. When Lestat returns to Marius with Akasha, he finally allies himself with the group of old vampires in order to render Akasha harmless. Jesse, who accompanied Maharet, gets caught up in the conflict and is almost killed. Ultimately, the vampires work together to overpower Akasha. Maharet drinks her last drop of blood and freezes.

Lestat turns Jesse into a vampire because he doesn't want to lose her. A little later they visit David Talbot in London and give him Lestat's diary back. David realizes that Jesse is now a vampire. After she and Lestat leave, Marius seeks out David.

criticism

The film was largely rejected by critics. Anne Rice readers in particular rejected the work because it was free to use the literary models. On the other hand, the soundtrack by Korn front man Jonathan Davis , on which various interpreters of modern rock interpret the title, was successful .

“Horror film that focuses entirely on the fascination of a cool new wave look, but avoids any discussion of the subject . Without a deeper interest in the subject, he gets lost in a genre variation that is as banal as it is tension-free. "

- Lexicon of international film

“The production, filmed exclusively in Melbourne and directed by Australian Michael Rymer, initially takes on a relatively serious tone, only to finally go on a moderate course of exploitation. This results in a somewhat unbalanced mixture that neither wants to function as straightforward horror nor as self-deprecating satire, but - and this is most important - is definitely fun. "

- kino.de

Awards

  • The film was nominated in 2003 for a Saturn Award in the category of best horror film.
  • Aaliyah received a nomination for the MTV Movie Award in the Best Villain category .
  • The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.

Background information

  • The film is the second adaptation of the vampire chronicle by Anne Rice. The first film was "Interview with the Vampire" (Eng .: Interview with a Vampire ) by Neil Jordan in 1994 .
  • Aaliyah died shortly before filming was finished when her charter plane crashed on the way home from a video shoot.
  • The few similarities between the film and the book are: Lestat is a vampire, Lestat is successfully attacked with a rock band and by other vampires at his first concert, Akasha is the first mother of all vampires, she kills Enkil, then almost all the other vampires, and kidnaps Lestat , Jesse Reeves is Maharet's descendant and works for the Talamasca, Marius is the guardian of Enkil and Akasha, Jesse is transformed into a vampire, but not by Lestat.

music

Jonathan Davis , singer of the nu-metal band Korn , composed the complete score for the film with Richard Gibbs . Musicians from bands such as Slipknot , Disturbed , Static-X , Marilyn Manson , Orgy and Linkin Park were involved in the project. Davis also has a small role in the film himself; he tries to sell the film character Jesse tickets on the way to the concert in Death Valley.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Queen of the Damned. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Film review on kino.de