Rachel Jernigan

I will give this 3 stars because I was a young kid when I saw it & always had a fascination with vampire mythology, plus the absolute BEST part of this film = the soundtrack, & Aaliyah's effort seen after her passing. However, as I grew older, I actually read the books/stories & this film completely ruins the original vision of these stories. First, Akasha is supposed to be far more sinister, cunning, & fierce, as she should be being the "Queen of the Damned." She is described often as originally Egyptian, with "olive" skin before she aged & became more & more like stone. Her original backstory is far more heartbreaking & enticing than what is delivered in this movie. I appreciated Aaliyah's effort but it's not what the books deliver to the imagination. Second, my absolute BIGGEST problem with this movie, "The Vampire Lestat," & the "Queen of the Damned," are 2 ENTIRELY seperate books with their own stories!!! They crammed, in my opinion, the 2 best books of the series into 1 movie & totally ignored Rice's true story of both, with disgrace as presented by the errors & lack of research/respect in this movie.