Competitors
didn't seem to take the mixed WWF championship seriously
 |
|
Vampires return
in a quest for world domination and pop nu metal stardom!
Nigel
Bell
Queen of
the Damned was destined for the dumper until the untimely death
of pop star Aaliyah during shooting.
The publicity
ensured enough people would know and talk about the film to warrant
a general release.
And while it
might be distasteful to say so, if you are a fan of the vampire/horror
genre Queen of the Damned is worth seeing.
The Plot
The legendary Vampire Lestat (Townsend), tired of immortal life,
has been asleep for decades.
He awakens to
the sounds of a thrash nu-metal band and decides life, as he knows
it, is worth living again.
 |
| Honest,
I've never heard of Ozzy Osbourne |
Fed up of always
hiding in the shadows Lestat decides to become a rock star.
His band (a
kind of Limp Bizkit) becomes huge even though they refuse to play
live gigs.
At a press conference
he announces a one-off performance and challenges all other vampires
to be there (or be square!)
By daring to
come out he upsets the majority of large fanged folk.
 |
| Christopher
Lee never had to wear clothes like these |
Throw into the
melting pot a vampire enthusiast who can't work out why she keeps
having dreams about the blood sucking creatures, Queen Akasha (Aaliyah)
who is literally the mother of all vampires and several climaxes
and you have an interesting take on the old tale.
The Verdict
This film is interesting in the very fact that it turns the vampire
story on its head. Here's a blood sucker who doesn't mind the whole
world knowing what he does for a living.
The crazy thing
is the population seems quite willing to accept his need for an
unusual pint just as long as he keeps making music and videos.
Hereby hangs
a continuity problem. Traditionally vampires can't been seen in
mirrors or photographs yet in Queen of the Damned we see
Lestat happily parading himself in music videos and reflecting in
water.
 |
| Hurry up
and take the pictures, I can't hold this pose forever |
That said there
are several nice touches, including humour.
"How did
you manage to slip through the 50's dressed in red velvet,"
says Lestat to his mentor Marius.
"I slept,"
comes the reply.
"You didn't
miss much."
"Elvis?"
"Elvis."
As for Aaliyah,
fans have to wait an hour before she actually appears. Her whole
screen time probably amounts to no more than ten minutes but she
has quite an impact, building a body count to rival Stallone in
his Rambo days. She comes across as a far scarier version of the
Ursula Andress character in the She films.
Good fun, decent
effects, just don't think too deeply.
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