Synopsis:
In The Hunger love triangle develops between a beautiful yet dangerous vampire, her cellist companion, and a gerontologist.
(from IMDB)
Directed by: Tony Scott
Screenplay by: Ivan Davis and Michael Thomas
Adapted from: The novel The Hunger by Whitley Streiber
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon
Awards/Nominations:
- Saturn Award Nomination for Best Costumes: Milena Canonero
- Saturn Award Nomination for Best Make-Up Dick Smith, Carl Fullerton
- Turkish Film Critics Association (SIYAD) Awards Nomination for Best Foreign Film
My Edition:
Warner Archive Collection blu-ray
Special Features:
Commentary with Susan Sarandon and Tony Scott
My Thoughts:
First, I think it sucks that this edition has just the one special feature. You know what I really would have liked? Some sort of feature on the special effects. Effects were done by SFX legend Dick Smith (The Exorcist and Scanners to name just a few of his legion notable works). The effects here were predictably wonderful, and I would have loved to have a behind-the-scenes look at the way some of them were achieved. This movie seriously has some of the most beautifully done old-age makeup I’ve ever seen.
But as for the story itself, it’s very melodramatic. It’s like High Goth romance. I will say though that it had significantly less Bowie going on than I had expected. Although he definitely plays a crucial role in the story, this is really a story about Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve), and her desire for companionship no matter the cost to her companion. She loves to be loved, you know?
“You said forever. Never ending. Do you remember?”
My search of IMDB’s trivia section brought up this little nugget, which I think sums up this movie perfectly:
“In The Celluloid Closet (1995), the 1995 documentary about the history of homosexuality in film, actress Susan Sarandon said that the screenplay for The Hunger (1983) originally called for her to be demonstrably drunk in the lead-up to her sex scene with Catherine Deneuve, but Sarandon asked for it to be changed so that her character had only a single sip of wine and then spilled the rest of the glass. She said she wanted to make it clear that her character was choosing to have sex with Miriam instead of doing it because of the alcohol, and also because “you wouldn’t have to get drunk to bed Catherine Deneuve, I don’t care what your sexual history to that point had been.”
I mean, really. She ain’t wrong.
I feel that it is worth noting that this is not a horror movie in a traditional sense. In fact, I have a really hard time even allowing that classification to go unquestioned, but whatever. It’s a movie about vampires (although I don’t think that word is ever actually spoken), so it is technically classified as horror.
On a side note though, there are some interesting cameos in the movie. I mean, it starts off with Bauhaus playing in the club, which is fun. I do love me some Bauhaus. And aptly, the song they’re performing is Bela Lugosi’s Dead. Also look out for Dan Hedaya (he’s hard to miss as he plays a fairly important role), and Willem Dafoe.
Rating:
The Hunger Directed by: Tony Scott US Release Date: April 29, 1983 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Rated R 97 Minutes
