Queen of the Damned (2002)

Remember when Vampires were cool?  Read on young viewer, for those halcyon days... the 2011 Halloween Review Marathon continues!

By Ann Marie

Queen of the Damned is a vampire story, but don't worry these vampires don't sparkle. It follows the story of the vampire Lesat (Stuart Townsend, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) who awakens after many years of sleeping. Lesat find the world a much different place than his original time period. He runs into a band practicing where at his old home and decides his next career is to become a vampire rock star.  Lesat has more than 5-stars in Rolling Stone as his career goal though - he quickly begins to taunt other vampires who ever remain in hiding.

This massive amount of vampire activity awakens the ancient Vampire Queen Akasha (Aaliyah), who is eager to reclaim her vampire throne.  Interestingly enough and despite being second billed on the poster, Aaliyah's character does not appear in the film and has a very limited amount of screen time. 

A secondary storyline follows paranormal researcher Jesse (Marguerite Moreau, Wet Hot American Summer) as she investigates this new rock star Lesat.  He resarch is told to the audience in the form a lengthy flashback near the middle of the film.  Also joining this cast on screen was Vincent Perez (Marius), Lena Olin (Maharet), Paul McGann (David Talbot) and Matthew Newton (Armand).



Queen of the Damned had some unique effects such as when the vampires move quickly, you can see them quickly fade away, but with an added trail behind them. Also they trail and fade away when flying through the night sky.  This effect looks dated, but worked for what the film was trying to achieve.  Makeup effects were also used to help show the difference between the dead and the living. The makeup artists used extreme white with dark black makeup around the eyes to give them an undead feel compared to the living with more peaches and warm colors used. There was also different lighting used to throughout the film which added, in one scene Lesat and Akasha were talking on a secluded island. To help illuminate the actors and for added effect, a yellow light was used giving Aaliyah and Stuart a yellowish tint to their skin. Different lighting colors were used to help break up certain spots in the movie such as in the concerts, back at Lesat's house and in the nightclub.

The soundtrack also stood out in the movie consisting of various artists covering songs by Korn's Jonathan Davis (who appears in cameo as a ticket scalper) and Richard Gibbs. Some well known artists in the soundtrack include Papa Roach, Marilyn Manson, Deftones, Disturbed and Jay Gordon from Orgy. There are also some bands of the era that were less popular but still enjoyable such as the Kidneythieves and Dry Cell. The heavy soundtrack and gothic theme of the film worked will together.

Director Michael Rymer is best known for his work on the Battlestar Galactica reboot.  The film was written by Scott Abbot and Michael Petroni (The Rite) based on the novel by Anne Rice.  Rice's series of vampire novels also served as the basis for the film 1994's Interview with the Vampire. 

Flowers are added to the Japanese Poster for some unknown reason...

Queen of the Damned is definitely a vampire movie that keeps a more traditional role of what a vampire really is, instead of making them shimmer and shine like some "other movies." As far as on a scary rating, this film would be ranked more 4/10. This is definitely something that won't make you cower in your corner and leave the light on when you go to sleep, but there is enough gore in the film that I wouldn't recommend children of a certain age to watch. A good movie to check out if you are a fan of vampires.

(c) 2011 Beyond the Films