When this shift in plotting occurs, and Lestat is absent for most of the rest of the film, there's an incredible energy loss. While Louis is always the film's focal point, he's a fairly bland character, played quietly and introspectively by Pitt. But when Lestat is on the screen, Cruise gives the role everything he's got, with wild passion and cruel humor. As a result, when he's gone, the movie begins to seriously sag.

Much of the final third involves Louis and Claudia's encounter with a band of vampires in Paris, led by the enigmatic Armand (Antonio Banderas) and the clownish Santiago (Stephen Rea). Yet, despite Santiago's comic antics, they fail to bring the proceedings back to life until a violent climactic moment. (Rea also affects the worst accent - is it French or Spanish? - since Rod Steiger's Hispanic mobster in "The Specialist." And there are places where the dialogue in this sequence is unintelligible.)

In essence, the first half of "Interview," which is essentially a wild, very dark comedy, is much better than the second half, which slips into melodramatic musings, unanswered questions and ups the gore ante.

And whatever one's preconceived notions might have been about Cruise as Lestat, he is very powerful in the role and literally takes charge every time he's on the screen. Dunst is also excellent, wonderfully conveying the pain of her gradual realization that life as a child is worse than life as a vampire.

The movie, like the book, reinvents vampire lore - forget your notions about mirrors, garlic and stakes through the heart. And though the violence is not quite up there with the goriest horror movies, for a big-budget, mainstream effort (and with Tom Cruise's name above the title), this one may reach an audience not used to such levels of mayhem.

"Interview With the Vampire" is rated R for considerable blood, violence and gore and a couple of gratuitous scenes of female nudity.