The Hunger

The Hunger movie review

The Hunger

In The Hunger, Tony (brother of Ridley) Scott and an ex-commercials director, creates a beautiful looking-movie about beautiful people, David Bowie & Catherine Deneuve, who meet other beautiful people in sleazy elite clubs...and vampirise them!

Based on the original Whitley Streiber novel of the same name,

Whitley Streiber: The Hunger

"...Vampire tales can get mundane and boring, but this is a unique and eternally creepier approach to a predatory species who walks among us..." Amazon reviewer Schtinky

"...Miriam is...(a)...vampire...an inhuman killer, to whom humans are like animals. This is done subtly in the book, from the way she treats her human lovers and dominates them, to the matter-of-fact way she stalks people...and kills them, knowing that no one will ever be able to stop her...The book makes you feel for her loneliness, as the last of her kind but then reminds you what it means to be loved by her, that you could end up spending eternity rotting conscious in a box...If you've only seen the movie, you're missing out. This book is sad, exciting, and scary..." Amazon reviewer Jessica Levai

Miriam (Deneuve) plays the queen vampire, whose chosen mate, John Blaylock (Bowie), starts to age incredibly fast, as is normal, apparently, when secondary vampires near the end of their run (even with regular bloody marys).

The Hunger trailer

Enter Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon), a research scientist studying the aging process, who's plugging her book on TV. Miriam spots her, buys the book...and suddenly Sarah is drawn into Miriam's web...finding she doesn't want to escape.

The Hunger is essentially a love story...but a very dark one...and there are some problems:

the visuals are very slick, make that a bit too slick &
the script could definitely have been better developed better

Nevertheless...I tentatively recommend it, particularly for its look and feel...very: this-is-cool-in-the-early-1980s.

Apparently The Hunger has been reasonably influential on Goth culture...but that doesn't really mean much to most of us though. The bottom line is that it isn't, by any means, the definitive vampire movie, it's just interesting...and for Bowie fans, make that pretty interesting.

The Hunger DVD

"...Slash... Glub... Slurp...The Hunger is one of the best vampire movies around. The mysterious, bloodsucking Blaylocks (Catherine Deneuve as Miriam and David Bowie as John) live a non-life of luxury and debauched serial-murder / feeding...(it)...stands as a vampire masterpiece..." Amazon reviewer Bindy Sue Fronkenschtein

"...If you like Vampires, Susan Sarandon or you just want to see David Bowie in the shower, buy this movie and you won't be dissapointed..." Amazon reviewer Rock'NtheDarkPlace

"...It says something, perhaps, about my upbringing that it never occurred to me, when I first saw this movie a quarter-century ago, to question the rather cutting-edge sexuality of it all. So, yeah, I'm fifteen, Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon are getting it on (and quite nicely, I might add) and I'm still sitting there thinking "Jeez, poor John." I saw nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever. For that matter, I still don't, except...two major international film stars of the same sex doing quite nice things to one another. Which is great and all, but honestly, so what? It has about as much significance to the overall plot as does the label in Dan Hedaya's suit..." Amazon reviewer Robert P. Beveridge

"...The best 80's vampire movie ever! All star cast and excellent cinematography. Musical score is brilliant and takes place in Manhattan. All the fond memories!..." Amazon reviewer Allen H. Siu

The Hunger soundtrack

"...Anyone interested in vampires should definitely see this movie, then buy the sondtrack. You really get a melancholic, dreamy feel for the music, and it goes hand in hand with the movie..." Amazon reviewer Morpheus89

"...The best way to say this is that the CD is an odd mixture of heaven and hell. The classical music on the CD is ethereal, sophisticated, floating and sublime. Schubert's Trio in E-flat, Op. 100 is contemplative and sad, mature and measured, cerebral and controlled - just as you would think the mind of a 2000 year old vampire would be. Bach's Suite #1 for Solo Cello in G-Major and his Partita #3 in E-Major, Gavotte En Rondeu are wonderful. The shining star however is Delibes' Lakme duet for sopranos. In this version, a piano prelude to the duet is elegant and seductive, followed by the amazing harmony of the two female singers..." Amazon reviewer C. B Collins Jr.