“I want some more.”
When we think of Neil Jordan’s lush adaptation of the classic Anne Rice novel, we remember Tom Cruise’s surprisingly magnetic performance, the implied romance between Lestat (Cruise) and Louis (Brad Pitt), and a cast filled with ’90s heartthrobs. This genre-bending film is all this and more, but what we often forget is the story of one of horror’s most heartbreaking villains.
Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) is a little girl still cuddling her mother’s corpse and lingering close to death herself when she meets the vampire who will become her father. Struggling with demons of his own, Louis drains her blood and leaves her to die before Lestat swoops in to bestow the gift of immortal life. While this does mend their tenuous relationship, the new fathers have created a time bomb of inevitable pain. Eventually, Claudia will begin to long for the adult body she has no hope of ever possessing.
In the latest episode of Bloody FM’s The Lady Killers Podcast, co-hosts Jenn Adams, Rachel Reeves, Sammie Roffman, and Shelby Novak discuss one of the genre’s most surprising killers. Why does Lestat create Claudia? Why does Claudia hate Lestat? Why can’t Lestat find his way out of the swamp, and why is Louis always so sad? They’ll answer these questions and more as Gothic Horror Month continues.
Stream below and subscribe now via Apple Podcasts and Spotify for future episodes that drop every Thursday.