The Vampire Lestat band

It's been a long time since I read "Queen of the Damned" so please forgive my ignorance. My question is did Lestat actually change the band into vampires?
I am a bit surprised by all the dislike of this film. It really was not that bad, and explained a great deal about why Lestat became the vampire he was when he made Louis and Claudia. He felt huge amount of anger and regret for not being able to be in the lives of mortals, and an intense sense of abandonment (rightly so) and betrayal by Marius. I felt that Townsends take on Lestat was spot on, I loved him in this role.

"Hello, Danny. Come and play with us... Come and play with us... Forever... and ever." The Shining