‘Interview With the Vampire’ assessment: AMC pumps recent blood into Anne Rice’s story

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Significantly enhancing upon the 1994 movie, “Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire” does extra than simply add the late creator’s identify to the title, ambitiously updating the story, introducing a racial part and serving up loads of intercourse and gore. Desperate to interchange “The Walking Dead,” AMC might need accomplished an inconceivable baton cross from zombies to a different form of undead.

Although the outlines mirror Rice’s gothic novel, the collection manages to concurrently increase upon them as if this have been a sort-of sequel and reinvent sure features, all whereas upping the quota on sexuality and violence into tiers occupied by the edgiest premium-TV fare. In that sense, this appears to have been produced not less than as a lot with AMC+ in thoughts because the linear community AMC.

Jacob Anderson (attending to say much more than he did as Grey Worm in “Game of Thrones,” and profiting from it) stars as Louis de Pointe du Lac, telling his story to a now-older journalist (Eric Bogosian) whose dismissive, sarcastic angle appears to be flirting with fangs for the recollections.

Meeting in a pandemic-ravaged future that brings further resonance to the story, the pink meat nonetheless exists in flashbacks to Louis’ previous with Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), the suave vampire who made him; and later Claudia (Bailey Bass), a barely older (once more) spin on the kid vampire whose perpetual state of adolescence captures the tragedy of her arc in a barely totally different method.

Louis and Lestat hook up in New Orleans in the course of the early 1900s, a time and place the place such interactions are attainable however the racism of the instances is overtly expressed, and a continuing part of the narrative.

Adapted by Rolin Jones (HBO’s reimagined “Perry Mason”) with early episodes directed by Alan Taylor (“The Sopranos”), there’s a palpable rigidity in Anderson and Reid’s performances, with the previous managing to be wistful and scary sooner or later and confused, melancholy and infrequently exultant up to now. As constructed, there’s additionally the intriguing difficulty of what would immediate him to step out of the shadows to share his story.

The motion, when it occurs, is swift, bloody and brutal. Yet the collection format affords this incarnation vital latitude as a personality examine, together with the immortal loneliness that might immediate Lestat to create himself a companion, and Louis’ subsequent dedication to Claudia, with all of the related rising pains that go together with it. The identical goes for fleshing out supporting gamers, resembling Louis’ mom (Rae Dawn Chong) and sister (Kalyne Coleman), versus simply trotting smaller roles out for the slaughter.

“Interview With the Vampire” will make its debut after the “The Walking Dead” begins its remaining season – in TV phrases, an old school baton cross meant to safe additional sampling in launching this seven-episode opening arc.

Unlike its ageless characters, “Vampire” won’t be suited to a very future, though AMC has already introduced a second season, a well-deserved vote of confidence primarily based on its extraordinarily promising begin. That’s excellent news for each viewers and the community, for whom – on the verge of bidding farewell to its greatest hit – the stakes couldn’t be larger.

“Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire” premieres October 2 at 10 p.m. ET on AMC and AMC+.