Following its UK premiere on the BBC, the show that could equally be called Interview with the Vampire Part III (as it’s the follow on from those two excellent series), is getting a Blu-ray, DVD and Digital release from Acorn Media International.
After an opening sequence set in the future where some mysterious catastrophe has occurred we find ourselves in 2025. Lestat (Sam Reid) is now a rock star in the style of Jim Morrison, although his band isn’t selling out venues in the way he had hoped. Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian), the ‘author’ of the original Interview with Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) is now shooting a video documentary on Lestat, grabbing interviews where and when he can. These are frequently on tour buses but sometimes in a studio. Meanwhile Armand (Assad Zaman) has joined an addict’s support group.
Lestat has agreed to the documentary because Molloy’s book Interview with the Vampire is now a bestseller. However, Lestat claims that much of what the book says about him is lies. The interviews allow us a greater insight into Lestat’s past, how he became a vampire, and especially his relationship with the undead Gabriella (Jennifer Ehle) and his involvement with the very first vampire Queen Akasha (Sheila Atim) aka the Queen of the Damned, which will be the title of the forthcoming Season Four.
The returning cast members are as excellent as ever, especially Reid who is completely believable as both a Rock God (or wannabe at least) and centuries-old vampire. Anderson is still here and he's still very good, but understandably the show is concentrating on Reid's character. But there’s something not quite right this time around - whether it’s the lack of the rich period look of the first two series, or the determination of the storytelling to be so fragmented with flashbacks within flashbacks that it ends up being a bit too clever for its own good, THE VAMPIRE LESTAT isn’t quite up to the quality of its predecessors. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, but you may find yourself a little less satisfied than with the previous offerings. Plus, things become seriously outrageous in a final episode that will have some loving it and purists likely hating it, so be warned.
Acorn’s Blu-ray set offers all seven episodes (which run between 45 - 55 minutes) spread over three discs, with a generous collection of extras. Key to the extras is a series called ‘After Dark’ which is essentially a post-show discussion with members of the cast (Reid, Anderson and others) and key creatives including ‘creator’ Rolin Jones and executive producer Mark Johnson, best viewed after each episode. Disc one also comes with an After Dark Preview Special (26 minutes) as well as post-show discussions for the first two episodes (25 and 33 minutes). Also on this disc are music videos (including a karaoke version of the song Long), Highlights of The Vampire Lestat live music performance (10 minutes), and the Vampire Lestat panel from 2025’s San Diego ComicCon featuring Reid, Anderson, Jones, Johnson, Bogosian and composer Daniel Hart.
Disc Two has three After Darks for episodes three, four and five (29, 26 and 34 minutes respectively) while Disc Three covers the final two episodes (27 and 33 minutes) as well as including a feature called Backstage Pass for all seven episodes, which are essentially 5-9 minute long featurettes.
THE VAMPIRE LESTAT is out on DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital from Acorn Media International on Monday 2nd November 2026
