Neil Jordan Reveals a Bloodier Original Cut of ‘Interview with the Vampire’… But He Couldn’t Find It [Exclusive]

EXCLUSIVE: A bloodier version of Interview with the Vampire screened for test audiences ahead of its 1994 release. But when director Neil Jordan went looking for his original cut for the film’s new restoration, he came up empty.

Speaking with Caroline Colvin for Dread Central’s exclusive interview, Jordan revealed that he tried to locate the footage at Warner Bros.

“When this Blu-ray was announced, I did try to track my original cut of the movie,” Jordan told us.

He couldn’t find that cut in the studio’s vaults. The search did, however, uncover deleted scenes that are included with the newly restored release.

“You’ll see the full glory of what we shot in those.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean the original cut is gone forever, but it does mean the director’s own search failed to turn it up. For anyone hoping to see that earlier version assembled and released, the deleted scenes are at least something to dig into.

Jordan also spoke about the challenge of making Interview with the Vampire frightening when the audience spends the movie alongside its monsters.

“How do you create the kind of terror that people are used to from horror movies? It became more about dread,” he explained.

Adapted from Anne Rice’s novel, the film stars Brad Pitt (Se7en) as Louis, a vampire recounting his turbulent life with Lestat, played by Tom Cruise (War of the Worlds). Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia) plays Claudia, a young girl whose transformation binds the two together with devastating consequences.

Warner Bros.’ newly restored Interview with the Vampire is available now on Digital and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, with deleted scenes, commentary, and featurettes exploring its cinematography and gothic design.