In observance of that autumn spell when we celebrate the primal, compulsive instinct of fear, Rainestorm once more highlights 31 days of spooky scares to season the eerie atmosphere of Halloween.

For those who tuned in last year, I subjected you to a daily dose of diabolical dread and devilish distress. Just as every good horror movie deserves an inferior sequel, I offer this follow-up of also-rans, not bads, and perhaps a couple of you’ve-gotta-be-kidding-mes.

Unleashed: 1994

What evil lurks: After gaining some notoriety with his controversial The Crying Game, director Neil Jordan was picked to film the first of Anne Rice’s popular novels featuring the vampire Lestat. After some casting controversy regarding Tom Cruise, Rice completely reversed her opposition to him after viewing the finished film. Jordan and A River Runs Through It cinematographer Philippe Rousselot shoot the film gorgeously but never gaudy. Cruise and Brad Pitt play well off one and another and little Kirsten Dunst gives an incredible performance for an eleven year old girl (a talent she seems to have lost in her post Bring It On career). Though Pitt’s Louis is perhaps a bit too angsty (“Still whining Louis… I’ve had to listen to that for centuries.”), Cruise’s unapologetic Lestat gives Interview its pulse.

Highlight from hell: A coven of Parisian vampires exacts twisted justice on Louis and Claudia.

Terrifying trivia: Author Anne Rice wrote the original part of Lestat for the 1976 novel with Rutger Hauer in mind.

Diabolical dialogue: “Your body’s dying. Pay no attention, It happens to us all.”

Son of: Dracula (1979) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992). Interview with the Vampire has the romantic angst of John Badham’s version but I doubt Anne Rice’s novel could have been brought to the screen without Francis Ford Coppola paving the way with his theatrical excess.

Shoddy sequel syndrome: Lestat just looks silly driving a car.