The Hunger
The Hunger
R | 29 April 1983 (USA)
The Hunger Trailers

Five-thousand-year-old vampire Miriam promises her lovers the gift of eternal life. When John, her cellist companion for centuries, discovers that he has suddenly begun growing old, he attempts to seek out the help of Dr. Sarah Roberts, a researcher on the mechanisms of aging.

Reviews
Laikals

The greatest movie ever made..!

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ReaderKenka

Let's be realistic.

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Matrixiole

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

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Aubrey Hackett

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

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Alyssa Black (Aly200)

The vampires in this directorial debut by the late Tony Scott are the kind of creatures to fear; relentless, fierce bloodsuckers who won't spare your life if you cross their path. There's a punk vibe to the characters and the environment surrounding them (thanks in no small part to the electronic sound effects used throughout the film).Leading the deadly duo is the lovey French beauty and actress Catherine Deneuve as the seductively manipulative Miriam Blaylock. Deneuve uses silence to her advantage as her character utters little dialogue, instead relying on subtle body language like menacing glares. When Miriam does speak, her voice is laced with silky smoothness thanks heavily to Deneuve's natural French accent. Her behavior is almost callous when she learns how quickly her companion, John Blaylock, is dying; even to refusing to save his life by claiming "I can't". However during the film's shocking finale, Miriam's actions from the past do come back to give her retribution for refusing to help all her former lovers.Playing the second female lead is the talented Susan Sarandon as scientist Sarah Roberts. She plays Sarah's naivety well as she is a rational woman, but when confronted with the rapidly dying John Blaylock her logic is soon thrown for a loop when she realizes John's tale of his fate comes true. There is a vulnerability always present in Sarandon throughout the film as her portrayal remains human to her final scene. The chemistry between her and Deneuve is electric as Miriam lures Sarah into her dangerous web.The final member of the triangle though he exits nearly halfway through the film is the charismatic late singer David Bowie as John Blaylock. Bowie makes the most of his limited screen-time in the only way Bowie could. He is silent, brooding, charming, yet lethal. The late singer-actor even learned to play cello for the music scenes and the haunting melody pulls you in and keeps you entranced. The makeup to age Bowie's John is remarkable as the actor is barely recognizable under the layers; even Bowie's trademark British accent is barely recognizable when he speaks an aged vampire (According to Bowie himself, he would go out onto the George Washington Bridge and scream out punk rock songs to make his voice hoarse for his later movie scenes). Sadly John Blaylock was a character who was underused and given little to do before he is quickly gone before the viewer's eyes, but he does leave an impression.The narrative is straightforward, but does little to develop the element of trying to save David Bowie's John Blaylock and seemed to rush forward to the relationship between Catherine Deneuve's Miriam and Susan Sarandon's Sarah. The atmosphere of the film is dark and brooding with a touch of the 1980s punk rock vibe in the background. The score is subtle and consists mostly of classical music (played by actors Catherine Deneuve (on piano) and David Bowie (on cello)) and electronic vibrations tossed in the background throughout the film's run time.This is worth a watch for any vampire movie fan.

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Irishchatter

David Bowie was absolutely amazing at playing his role as a goth guy. I really wish he appeared more and given more lines in the film. He is just a legend like!I thought the sex scene's were really well done. Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve made their relationship blossomed and gave each other passionate with love not rushed throughout this film. Both ladies were absolutely stunning! I liked how stylish the actors looked because it gave us that feeling of the early stages of goth subculture. It just looked really attractive to think they wore them back then. I'm pretty much a sucker for goth fashion so I'm really glad to have watched this film!

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HippieRockChick

I am not a fan of vampires in any shape or form. Except in the shape and form of David Bowie, who was the only reason I watched this piece of terminal preciosity in the first place and the only reason it gets four stars instead of zero. Well, okay, Tony Scott too, a little. But the rest of the cast, no. Catherine Deneuve always strikes me as a beautiful blank-faced animated dressmaker's dummy, and Susan Sarandon's perky feisty little shtick is wearing very, very thin.But. Vampires. I find them incredibly boring and banal, so really I was just, as I said, watching for Bowie. He looked fantastic, but the part didn't give him a whole lot to do. The shower scene was pleasant enough, and he did have a bit of actual acting to deal with on occasion, but he spent most of the film in old-age makeup, which kind of defeated my purpose. And lesbian sex between Deneuve and Sarandon, oh ick. I'd rather have watched Bowie play some more cello. Anyway, I was bored and annoyed. But don't go by me. Vampire groupies probably love it.

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rooprect

Let's see, the ubiquitous Bowie has appeared as a spaceman ("The Man Who Fell to Earth", a goblin king ("Labyrinth"), a famous teleporting scientist ("The Prestige") and Andy Worhol ("Basquiat"). But his vampire role in "The Hunger" goes down in my book as being Bowie to the max."The Hunger" is an elegant, artistic, original vampire story which came very close to perfection, improved upon the book in one particular way but then blew it in the last few moments. I won't ruin it, but just bear in mind the last 2 minutes were tacked on at the insistence of the studio suits who wanted to set the stage for a sequel. The problem, as Susan Sarandon says in the commentary, is the studio's ending completely negates the point of the story (at least the way she intended to play her character). So if you're left a bit confused, just ignore the last few minutes and maybe it'll make sense. Other than that, this was an almost perfect thriller that boldly crosses the line into "art house film".The film takes a very stylish, chic look at vampires in the modern world (although, make note that the word "vampire" is never used). Note that both the book and the film pre-dated Anne Rice's stylish "Interview with the Vampire" by 10 years. I think it's fair to say that "The Hunger" might've been the first story to take the classic Victorian vampire story and make it into a fashionable, urban, young & sexy tale.A large part of its stylish presentation is the artistic camera & lighting throughout the film. I can't call this a "dark" film because actually the scenes are full of light. But the light is always blocked, shuttered or obscured, leaving the actors steeped in shadows and contrast despite the gleaming ghostly light sources. The result is a feeling of isolation, or rather, INSULATION from the daylight ...a secret world of shadows hiding right under the sun. There are lots of flowing curtains, gossamer sheets and graceful camera movements, complimented by classical cello & piano sonatas, giving it a smooth, intimate vibe of a dream.Or should I say 'nightmare'? This film definitely has its disturbing moments. The shots of blood & gore are convincingly done and quick, making them seem even more unsettling. The film also oozes with sexual encounters which might make some feel uncomfortable, but just bear in mind it's still pretty tame compared to the book. But really, the film's approach is so different from the book that no comparisons should be made. I do believe that the film added a great degree of poetry and beauty to the tale, giving it a distinct style that few films have been able to achieve. With ample use of classical pieces (the Lakmé opera from 1883) and an artist's approach to colors, contrast, flowy movement & surreal visuals, "The Hunger" is definitely a thing of beauty.If I had to list similar films (this is a tough one), I'd probably put it in league with the obscure art-house scifi films "Tykho Moon", and Wim Wenders brilliant "Until the End of the World." Its heavy pacing & graceful presentation is hard not to compare to the well known films directed by Tony's big bro, Ridley Scott ("Blade Runner") but moreso like Peter Blatty's criminally underrated masterpiece "Exorcist III". As far as more recent films go, it has a similar tense, brooding atmosphere like in "Black Swan". Movies like these are pretty hard to come by, so don't miss your chance to see em.

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