The Hunger (1983)

Perfect cast and a good story

Just perfect...

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Movie Review: "The Hunger" (1983)Director Tony Scott (1944-2012) feature debut, based on a minor-succcessful novel of 1981 by author Whitley Strieber, had been showing off "out-of-competition" at Cannes Film Festival 1983 in its 36th edition, when acting triangle surrounding Catherine Deneuve, at superbly-seductive age of 39, Susan Surandon continuity-introduction as exceptional actress with scene-stealing feature skills, while musician David Bowie (1947-2016) calmly as ultra-cool tempt to amaze as vampires always on the hunt for young blood in night club lounge atmosphères and business people of class at day in London, England of the 1980s, when steamy, film-noir, color-shadowed cinematography by Stephen Goldblatt rescue this nevertheless out-standing motion picture of just being an overlong life-style commercial of high society, when erotic as sexual moments are well observed by T. Scott, where love and "The Hunger" for more knows no limits in consideration of the sex and brief social encounters. Copyright 2018 Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC

not your standard Hollywood fare, this is primarily a visual and auditory experience, a feature-film-length music video; the plot is a secondary feature every scene in this movie is a work of art, a carefully-composed moving photograph to accompany an eclectic mix of sound, from melancholic piano and string-instrumentation to percussive noise with choral vocalising, to suspenseful Carpenter-esque synth the atmosphere is pure gloom. the film should win an award for most depressing vampire film ever. i had to take a shower after i watched it to clear my mind and wash away the melancholy Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon are great, as are their boobs; i've never particularly cared for David Bowie, but fans might enjoy watching him sulk through the first half of the film. the pacing is rather slow but fits the mood; the story, based on an a novel by Whitley Strieber, maintains my interest until the ending, which features some really cool make-up art and is left open to interpretation ultimately it's an artsy cult film that i appreciate but understandably will not be everyone's cup of sherry

Hey! Like, what in the name of Count Chocula is going on here!?...... Why is it that modern-day movie-vampires are such messy buggers?? They are. When it comes to their favourite drink, Blood-Thick Slurpees, they splatter and spill the stuff around, all over the place, like it was going out of style.Take The Blaylocks (that's the oh-so-refined Bowie/Deneuve vampire team), for example, they get more blood on the walls and on the floor than they ever do in their mouths. I'm not kidding. And half the time they can't even get it into their own mouths at all. Most of it ends up dribbling down their chins and onto the fronts of their very fashionable frocks. (tsk. tsk) I'm tellin' ya - Vogue magazine would never approve of this. Never.The Blaylocks are total mess-cats when it comes to cadaver snacks and full-meal-deals. And not only that, but they are unbelievably reckless and, yes, stupid, too. When these ultra-chic bloodsuckers are finished with their feed for the night they actually haul the torn and chewed up scraps of their dinner down to their cellar and (get this) burn it up in their very own incinerator.I don't know about you, but I'd say that this is none too bright. After all their trendy townhouse is situated right in the centre of a New York City neighbourhood. And unless the locals there have all lost their ability to smell, the stench and smoke caused by the burning of flesh, surely must have 1 or 2 folks around the hood wondering about The Blaylocks' barbecue specials. But the strange thing is, no one ever complains, or anything. I don't get it.In the good, ol' days of movie-vampires (pre-1950's) The Count, Nosferatu and all their assorted cronies always seemed to be so careful whenever they drained a victim of their life-blood. It's true. You rarely ever saw even a trickle of blood run down a vampire's chin or drip from their victim's neck wound. It seemed back in Hollywood's hey-day that these movie-vampires meant business and sucked the body dry. Yeah,'Good To The Last Drop' was their motto, I'm sure. Everything was so clean and easy back then.But these hip-cat movie-vampires of today let the blood fly everywhere, making big, bloody messes from one end of their fashionable condo to the other. What in the world are vampires coming to? And not only that, but Miriam (Mrs. Blaylock) has a neurotic habit of not letting go of her previous lovers. So, whenever she moves from place to place she, literally, lugs around a dozen god-damn coffins that contain the remains of these dried-up deceived ones who she had promised 'forever' to. If a pile of coffins isn't the sort of thing that will draw attention and suspicion to this particular vampire's undead activities, I don't know what will.But Miriam is also big on betrayal and even before her present lover has actually set foot inside his own box she's out shopping for a replacement. She likes to pretend that this isn't so, but she's no fool and, besides, she is utterly repulsed by the touch of old, wrinkled flesh. Who isn't, baby?I have to give Miriam credit for her latest choice for a lover. Sarah (Sarandon) is actually kind of hot, (as opposed to the scrawny Bowie) but on top of that she really seems to have a brain in her head. At present Sarah's working at a clinic and researching the connection between sleep and ageing. This could well prove to be worthwhile research. And I suspect this is one of the reasons why Miriam chose Sarah. Miriam, I'm sure, has very strong desires to slow down her own ageing even more. And maybe Sarah's knowledge is the key to an answer.But as vampire-lovers these two high-fashion females are doomed. Domination is their downfall. One must rule. One must die. Who that is to be all comes down to the one with the more cunning mind. Who that turns out to be will certainly be of no surprise to anyone, I'm sure.Anyways - From a visual point of view 'The Hunger' is a very impressive film to look at and admire. Lots of moody lighting and stylish sets give it an above average look for a mere vampire flick. Director, Tony Scott (Ridley's brother), does a fine job of setting a even pace in the film's story line. And the gore will satisfy any fan of horror movies, in particular the final confrontation between Miriam and all her long-dead and dehydrated lovers. This girl certainly wasn't idle for a minute. And now the mummified lovers are all coming back to 'thank' her for her loyalty. (Tee-Hee)

Gorgeous, wealthy vampire Catherine Deneuve takes on lovers throughout the ages with the promise of eternal life, neglecting to tell them that after a few hundred years or so, they will age rapidly and spend eternity old and feeble in coffins. Her latest lover, David Bowie, starts the aging process and seeks help from scientist Susan Sarandon, who is doing advanced research in the field of accelerated aging. Unfortunately, she does not believe his tale until it is too late for him, and she herself ends up being ensnared in Deneuve's web of intrigue.Ridiculous film would be laughable were it not for the fact that it takes itself so seriously, so it ends up merely being dull and pretentious. It was a flop at the time of release, but has developed a cult following. It is difficult to see why. The plot is of almost no consequence here and functions as little more than a shaky framework on which to attach the next sex scene or violent attack. The entire film plays like one over-stretched perfume commercial.Gads of ink were spilled regarding the lesbian sex scene between Deneuve and Sarandon at a time when such things were just not done by name actresses. The scene itself is tastefully handled and a few misguided critics overpraised it, while conveniently overlooking that the film which surrounds it is pure ultra-chic garbage.Director Scott films everything and directs his actors so poorly here that one waits for one of them to face the camera with a perfume bottle and start hawking it. The plot is fairly incoherent, especially as the film proceeds. Bowie manages some decent moments, but he leaves the film entirely too early. Cliff DeYoung is wasted as Sarandon's ill-fated boyfriend. Deneuve and Sarandon are both filmed ravishingly, but this is neither one's best day - Deneuve is particularly dreadful here.If anyone can fathom the motive behind the absurd final moments where an army of Deneuve's decrepit former lovers rise for some reason from their coffins (has she been dragging all these coffins all over the world with her?) and rebel against and attack her, while she shrieks "I love you. I love you all!" in a laughable monotone, then you are doing better than I.