Why You Should Be Watching Interview With the Vampire While It’s on Max

Earlier this month, more than 200 episodes from seven AMC Networks series hit Max for a limited time as part of the new AMC+ Picks on Max hub. Included in that selection available until October 31st is the first season of Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire. The series, a fresh interpretation of the late author Anne Rice’s iconic gothic horror novel of the same name, originally debuted last fall on AMC and AMC+, and while the series received critical acclaim and was quickly a fan favorite, it’s started picking up even more fans since arriving on Max. While the series has already been renewed for a second season on AMC — and production on said Season 2 has resumed after AMC made an agreement with SAG-AFTRA, which is presently on strike — it will be a bit before the vampires return to television. It’s all the more reason to jump in on Interview With the Vampire now while it’s on Max.

This isn’t just a “we told you so” in terms of critics and fans who have been all-in on Interview With the Vampire from the jump. The series isn’t perfect; no adaptation of a book as seminal and deeply beloved as Rice’s 1976 novel could be. But it is thrilling, enthralling, and some of the most complex and fascinating television in years that just so happens to be about vampires. So why should you be watching Interview With the Vampire while it’s on Max? Let’s break it down.

The Cast of Interview With the Vampire is Phenomenal

When some of the details of how AMC would change Rice’s novel for screen were first revealed, diehard fans of the book had some questions. Daniel Molloy had been made older, as had Claudia, and there were other notable changes as well, especially with the setting of the series moving away from 18th century Louisiana to the early 20th century. However, any question that novel fans may have had vanished once they saw the cast in action. Interview With the Vampire is perfectly cast, with each of the series’ stars not only “understanding the assignment” when it comes to bringing characters like Lestat de Lioncourt and Louis de Pointe du Lac to life, but these are performances that transcend. As the dangerous, narcissistic, emotionally abusive Brat Prince Lestat, Sam Reid is equal parts seductive, infuriating and terrifying. Jacob Anderson’s Louis, while given a completely different back story than the novel, brings not only the complexities of the character and his own inner struggle to life in way that feels almost deeper than what Rice put on the page, but also makes the character more relatable. And put the two together, the chemistry is palpable.

Even outside of the two “main” characters, the series is brilliantly cast. Eric Bogosian as an older Daniel Molloy brings rougher edges to things that helps hold the whole decadent story to the fire, while Bailey Bass’ Claudia somehow manages to be both monstrous and humane. She is perhaps the character that is the hardest to watch, just because of how ferociously good the performance is. Genuinely, there isn’t a weak link in the entire cast.

The Series Isn’t The Book — But It Doesn’t Need to Be

For some fans of Rice’s work, the idea of any adaptation that isn’t 100% faithful to her work is a hard thing to accept. But this series is a rare situation where interpreting the story into something different actually serves the core of the source material’s themes and enriches the novel experience all while being something new. For Interview With the Vampire, AMC took much of the core concepts of the novel and changed key elements, such as setting, the race of some of the characters, and introduced the idea that the Interview With the Vampire that the viewers know actually exists within the world of the series and that the series is sort of a second chance for Louis to set the record straight with an older Daniel decades after their first conversation. This approach allows the series to preserve elements of the book — and, indeed, the series does take entire passages of the original text and puts them into the script — but also goes a little differently. We get to get a little deeper into Louis and his experiences, his regrets and his choices as well as the secrets he is keeping, which makes for a story that is more complex than a simple vampire memoir.

The series also leans more into the queer subtext of the book. Rice’s novels relied on queer subtext and implications of queer relationships, but the series brings those aspects to the fore. The result, when mixed with the fantastic performances from the actors and the slightly updated timeline in terms of story, is a series that feels much more like a human story: one of identity, self-acceptance, self-loathing, and the need to be loved even when one doesn’t quite know how to love one’s self.

It’s Vampires. What’s Not To Love?

Of course, if great acting, perfect casting, and a genuinely unique take on an iconic novel that is both its own thing and will enrich your reading of Rice’s work isn’t enough to convince you to watch Interview With the Vampire while it’s still on Max, well, then there’s really only one more reason to do it: it’s vampires, but it isn’t scary. Is the series a little bloody? Yes, and it is at times a bit violent. But compared to much horror fare this time of year, Interview With the Vampire is going to leave you enchanted more than terrified so if you want to watch something a little darker this spooky season, but you don’t really want to be spooked Interview With the Vampire is the perfect choice.

Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire is now streaming on Max through October 31st.