Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Michael Rymer. Written by Scott Abbott and Michael Petroni. Based on the novel The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. Running time: 101 minutes. Rated R (for vampire violence).
Roger Ebert is one of the few critics who are not damning Queen of the Damned, starring the late Aaliyah. Not that he has much praise for it. The movie, he says, is happy to be goofy. ... [It] is filled with characters who seem to have taken Gene Simmons [of the rock group Kiss] as their role model. Elvis Mitchell in the New York Times also employs the word goofy to describe the film, but then goes on to comment that it is a casualty of an awful trend, the corporatization of horror movies. Jay Carr in the Boston Globe calls it thoroughly disposable, while Robert K. Elder in the Chicago Tribune wonders why the term 'damned applies at all, when vampirism is depicted as so cool, fashion-savvy and glamorous. But Lou Lumenick suggests that the movie ought to be taken for what it is -- undemanding, cheesy fun.