The Ending of 'Interview with the Vampire,' Explained Actorsvaultpro

Interview with the Vampire is one of those movies that transcends its horror label, appealing equally to general audiences and to those who love gothic, atmosphere-driven vampire films. The movie’s accessibility, phenomenal ensemble performances, and sleek visual direction made it a pop culture phenomenon, reinventing the vampire genre upon release and setting the stage for many TV series and movies. From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Twilight, many modern horror films owe some of their structure to this contemporary classic vampire tale.

Of course, much of its success would not have been possible without the 1976 novel of the same name by Anne Rice. Interview with the Vampire marked Anne Rice’s debut as a fiction writer, a huge success (she wrote it over five weeks) that became highly influential both in the literary world and on the screen through many adaptations of her work. Rice wrote 37 books before her passing in 2021, leaving many deeply saddened.

As with many gothic tales, Interview with the Vampire ends on an open-ended note, which can lead to confusion about what actually happened. This, combined with the fact that it is a story told from a character’s point of view, which makes the tale unreliable, is no surprise, as many were left uncertain about what exactly happened at the end of the movie.

Here’s what happened in the movie and how it correlates to the novel and the new adaptation.

Understanding ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Ending Starts With Its Literary Roots

Warner Bros. Pictures

Interview with the Vampire is the first book in a 13-book series called The Vampire Chronicles. Her debut novel was the one that placed Anne Rice on the map as an influential modern horror writer, specifically in the gothic horror subgenre. She wrote the book to deal with her daughter’s death from leukemia when she was only five years old. Fans can see a clear parallel with Claudia, a young girl who is turned into a vampire and, therefore, never ages. This gothic story is about immortality, life, death, and, most importantly, what makes us humans.

The story begins when Louis is turned into a vampire by the immortal and ruthless Lestat. Their bloody adventures together, along with their divergent morals, are entertaining to watch and offer a new perspective on these creatures. The end of the book, like the movie, leaves room for the story to continue. Therefore, it can be unclear because it doesn’t resolve all its plot points and introduces new ones.

Technically, there was a sequel to the movie, 2002’s Queen of the Damned, starring Stuart Townsend and Aaliyah, which attempted to combine the second and third books of the series and give more closure to the story laid out in the first film. However, time has not been so kind to Queen of the Damned, and many disregard its inclusion in the franchise’s legacy. So, Neil Jordan’s 1994 adaptation leaves things open-ended, leaving those lingering questions about what happened afterward.

The Ending of ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Explained

Interview with the Vampire had mixed reviews when it first came out, but since then, the film has gained a cult following. Nevertheless, it was one of the highest-grossing R-rated horror movies of 1994, and with two of the biggest stars at the time, including Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, it was no surprise that it became such a success. The movie also added intrigue, with Tom Cruise playing the immortal Lestat, a villainous performance many still single out as among his best.

The movie ends differently from the book, even though both are open-ended. Here, Daniel (Christian Slater), the reporter recording Louis’ (Brad Pitt) life story, begs Louis to turn him into a vampire. Louis gets violent, as he can’t believe anyone wants to become what he is after everything he shared. Daniel drives away, escaping from the vampire that disappeared. He then plays Louis’ story on tape, which is met with disbelief by those listening to his story.

However, this is not the end that Daniel believes it to be, and as he drives away after having shared his story, Lestat appears, having hidden in his car, and bites him. Here, the audience learns that Lestat managed to survive his brush with death when Claudia poisoned him, and that he had remained following Louis, bringing him to Daniel, whose own obsession drove him to follow Louis.

The film closes with Lestat reviving himself by drinking Daniel’s blood and casually picking up the interview tape, a visual cue that the story is far from over. Yet it never confirms whether Daniel will become a vampire, whether Lestat truly intends to make him his new protégé, or what Louis’s fate will be. Instead, the ending remains deliberately open-ended, never meant to give that clean closure many wanted.

‘Interview with the Vampire’ Story Would Live Decades Later on TV

Sam Reid Lestat de Lioncourt Interview with the Vampire Season 3

For fans of this gothic vampire tale — whether from the original novel or the 1994 film — the story found new life in a TV adaptation, titled Interview with the Vampire. The series, two seasons in and renewed for a third under the title The Vampire Lestat, may not be a direct sequel to the movie. Still, it gives the characters more room to develop closer to what Anne Rice originally envisioned, even given the series’ deviations. More importantly, it captured fan attention, with Jacob Anderson as Louis de Pointe du Lac, and Sam Reid as Lestat de Lioncourt, bringing their own flair to the production.

The show’s first season ended halfway through the book’s story. Season 2 would, impressively, go on to complete the back half of the original novel in full; this included Louis and Claudia’s journey through Europe, their time at the Théâtre des Vampires, the introduction of Armand, and the tragic conclusion of Claudia’s arc. The upcoming third season is set to move on to the second book in the Vampire Chronicles, also titled The Vampire Lestat, focusing on the vampire’s origins, including his rise to rock stardom.

For those who did not like the open-ended nature of 1994’s Interview with the Vampire, the subsequent TV series is shaping up to be the quintessential adaptation of Anne Rice’s work. It certainly helps fill in the gaps about what may have happened beyond the movie’s ambiguous conclusion.

Where To Watch ‘Interview with the Vampire’

While the ’90s movie Interview with the Vampire ends on an ambiguous note, with closure never really given in the form of a proper sequel, it is still definitely a film worth revisiting, if not for the phenomenal cast alone that captures the era so perfectly. The movie remains a classic, but it is also not easy to access. To watch 1994’s Interview with the Vampire, you have to rent or buy it on platforms like Apple TV, Amazon Video, or YouTube. Alternatively, the entire TV series is available to stream on AMC+ or Netflix. If you just want to sample the show without a subscription, the first season is also available to stream for free on Plex.