You won't be disappointed!

The Worst Film Ever

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve) is an immortal vampire, who promises certain humans they will embrace eternal life if they become her lover. We see her current lover is John (David Bowie), a young and attractive cellist. The two comfortably live within their own means, sucking blood from unsuspecting people at the nightclubs they frequently venture and assimilate to New York life quite nicely. Feeding on young souls is what keeps Miriam and John eternally young and attractive, and presumably have an incorruptible youthfulness in terms of appearance and state-of-mind.It isn't until John begins to suffer from chronic insomnia that robs him of his youthful looks and makes him show his age, roughly over two-hundred-years-old, meaning that while he has inherited eternal life, he will never inherit eternal youth. John seeks the help and companionship of Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon), a veteran gerontologist (age specialist) who has researched the aging effects in primates for many years. As John tries to decide whether to fight or come to terms with his aging, which has rendered him lethargic and hideous, Sarah tries to find comfort and answers with her sexuality and her own mortality. Her boyfriend Tom (Cliff De Young) notices her spending more time with Miriam, leading him to question her intentions as she becomes dangerously drawn to the lifestyle Miriam lives by.Tony Scott's directorial debut The Hunger is one of the damnedest films I've seen in quite sometime, and certainly one of the more interesting vampire films, and directorial debuts for that matter, I've seen, as well. It's a combination of an exercise in modern Gothic style and the elaboration on vampire life in a way that's serious and believable. The Hunger plays like a devilishly sleek and visual soap opera that never so much as scares, but entrances, as it moves with the grace and elegance of a femme fatale, but hulks and lingers like Nosferatu in terms of the presence it reveals.Simply put, this is an experience more-so than it is a film to find yourself attached to. I found myself rather alienated by the characters in the film, and more concerned with Scott's approach to style and filmmaking craft. The dichotomy of filmmaking brothers Ridley and Tony Scott always fascinates me because where Ridley lacks in craft and detail, Tony always seems to excel, even in his later action pictures like Unstoppable, which have now become grounds for "vulgar auteurism." Tony gets the details of The Hunger down to a tee, be them in an aesthetic perspective that allows the bright color of red to pulsate through the screen at various points in the film, or in a narrative perspective, which has Sarandon's Sarah the main subject of serious commentary on sexual awakening, particularly lesbianism and whether or not her story is a parable of coming to terms with one's own sexuality.The Hunger is less a film defined by the strength of its acting, but by the sheer presences and personalities its performers exist as, particularly Catherine Deneuve, who radiates enigma throughout the entire film. A beautiful soul in the film, yet undeniably troubled and weighed down by circumstance, Deneuve's Miriam manages to be one of the film's most fascinating characters, despite most of the crucial events of the film happening to David Bowie's John, largely because of her ominous presence throughout the course of the film.The Hunger's most prominent shortcoming comes in the regard of its editing, which juxtaposes the story of Dr. Roberts with Miriam and John's, causing a rather tumultuous and unpolished editing scheme that has Scott at a quandary in terms of maintaining narrative cohesion. Because of this, Scott can't focus on one particular character or situation and fully develop them, and instead, tries to balance out the playing field by throwing in another story when, in reality, bot need separate developments. It's a classic device many use on their directorial debut to try and prevent monotony and give the audiences a lot to digest, though it backfires here largely because of its strange and carefully plotted story.With that, the aura of The Hunger and the cast itself, are worth the price of admission. This is a vampire film as original and immersive as it is perplexing, and the style of the film mimics that of Gothic/Victorian-era decor without being too overbearing or reliant on setpieces. Scott and company have, in turn, crafted a vampire film not guaranteed to live forever, but one that will not die quickly thanks to all it lays out on the table.Starring: Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, and Cliff De Young. Directed by: Tony Scott.

"The Hunger" is a fairly empty exercise in Style, but, ooh-la-la, what style! Tony Scott's transition piece from shooting commercials to directing features, it feels like a 97-mnute Chanel ad. Nowhere in evidence are the grotesque framing, cutting, editing, and color-filtering choices that mar so much of Scott's later work. "The Hunger" boasts three gorgeous leads, and incredibly rich photography and of-the-moment music, combined with the lazy, narcotic pacing of an afternoon spent lounging in an opium den. It was cutting-edge culture in 1983, and has influenced countless film-makers ever since. A much, much better movie than "Only Lovers Left Alive", IMO.

Miriam, a centuries-old vampire, preys on urban clubgoers with her vampire lover John. When John suddenly ages and wastes away, Miriam casts her spell upon Sarah, a doctor who researches premature aging.I figured with Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie, this had to be a home run. Deneuve is an incredible actress, and Bowie has had some impressive roles. And usually very quirky ones: alien, goblin king, Andy Warhol. But we did not get much of him here.I don't know if this was just trying to be too mainstream or what, but it was not what I was looking for, and was not super excited about it. In fact, I found it rather challenging to pay attention, which is no compliment.

The Hunger (1983)** (out of 4) When vampire Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve) bites a new lover, they don't age, which is a great benefit but that changes when she's done with you and wants someone else. John (David Bowie) finds himself aging at a rapid pace so he goes to a doctor (Susan Sarandon) for help but soon the doctor finds herself under the spell of Miriam.THE HUNGER features some truly great stuff but sadly it's all pretty much lost in this rather bland movie that's certainly a strange take on the vampire story but in the end there's just way too much style and not a lot of substance. Director Tony Scott certainly likes his style even when it overtakes any sort of story that might have been in the screenplay. There's all sorts of quick edits here and it's clear that the director wants you to be impressed with how many cuts there are in one small sequence. As far as the story goes, I guess they figured since you had two beautiful women naked and making out with each other you didn't need a story.As I said, there are some terrific things here including the special effects of Dick Smith who had to take a very young Bowie and age him in front of our eyes. The special effects used are simply brilliant and you almost with that the entire 97-minutes would have been devoted to watching Bowie grow old. This sequence doesn't contain the power that it should have, thanks to the direction, but there's no doubt that you're eyes will be one the effects. Another major plus are the actual performances from the three leads. Bowie is marvelous here and steals the film as you really can feel his character's fear of growing old, which of course means his life is going to be over. Deneuve is also extremely good having to work with limited dialogue. The same with Sarandon who falls under her spell.The now infamous lesbian scene has two beautiful women who are obviously easy to look at but even the style to it wasn't all that impressive. Obviously, I wasn't overly thrilled in how director Scott handled the picture. It's really a shame because there aren't too many horror movies that get this type of cast and in the end you can't help but feel that it was a wasted opportunity even with the great moments that are scattered throughout.