Bad movies are more than capable of carving out a long-lasting legacy, although it’s typically for all the wrong reasons. By any measurable metric, 2002’s Queen of the Damned should be inducted into cinema’s hall of fame for completely unnecessary continuations, but that’s not why the supernatural standalone sequel is remembered.
Instead, the tragic death of star Aaliyah at the age of just 22 in the summer of 2001 is the lasting reputation left behind by the Anne Rice adaptation, with the fast-rising actress and singer killed in a plane crash just months after shooting had been completed on the spiritual successor to Interview with the Vampire.
In the end, the tragedy completely overshadowed the end product, which may have been a blessing in disguise. While Queen of the Damned endures as the final credit on Aaliyah’s filmography, a Rotten Tomatoes score of only 17 percent and a meager box office haul of just $45 million against a $35 million budget isn’t what deserved to be remembered as her final contribution to cinema.
More than 20 years on, though, and Queen of the Damned remains more than capable of sinking its fangs into streaming subscribers, with FlixPatrol naming the underwhelming spin on its widely-beloved source material as one of the most-watched features on the Starz worldwide rankings so far this week.
It isn’t anywhere close to being a great or even good movie, but the circumstances surrounding its existence will keep it in the memories of many for quite some time to come.