BA_Harrison The Hunger starts off as a bad '80s music video for post-punk band Bauhaus, who perform their song Bela Lugosi's Dead in a nightclub amidst lots of blue light and smoke, after which director Tony Scott settles for a soporific avant garde/art-house style to tell his dreary story of a vampire, Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve), whose lovers eventually succumb to rapid ageing and death, despite her promise of eternal youth. David Bowie plays John, the latest of Miriam's partners to grow old and die before her eyes, and Susan Sarandon is doctor Sarah Roberts, who finds herself with a hunger for blood after a lesbian fling with the vampire.Repetitive intercutting of scenes, lots of billowing curtains, people smoking cigarettes, more fluttering pigeons/doves than a John Woo film, and classical music: chic and stylish is what Scott is clearly aiming for; boring and pretentious is what he delivers.A pitiful 1/10, despite Deneuve and Sarandon's sexy scene, and some excellent old-age make-up by industry legend Dick Smith.

lasttimeisaw The late Tony Scott's theatrical debut feature, a UK production assembles three household names from three different countries, THE HUNGER is a Gothic horror taps into Whitley Strieber's novel about vampirism but only vaguely specifies its origin. It takes place in New York (although the shooting was done almost entirely in London), Miriam and John Blaylock (Deneuve and Bowie) are blood-seeking immortals (the word "vampire" has never been disclosed through the entire film), living in a grandiose mansion, but "immortal" turns out not to be the case for John, since he is originally human and the eternal life which is bestowed by Miriam has a life expectancy (several hundreds years supposedly), so he seeks help from Doctor Sarah Roberts (Sarandon), whose research team is working on the relation between sleep and ageing, but his doom seems inevitable, and it also directly introduces Miriam a new disciple as John's successor, only this time, a shallowly characterised succession will alter their fate forever.As a first-timer, Scott competently captures the ethos of the time to embellish the vampire subculture with the sonic alternation of synth-pop (Bauhaus' opening performance of BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD) and classic pieces (Schubert's PIANO TRIO NO.2 and Léo Delibes' LAKMÉ: THE FLOWER DUET) to underline the dual facets of vampire's lifestyle: their innate dependence on gore and their noble superiority of eternity; also his visual stratagem is exemplary to cast a sensational vibe during the utterly male-skewing erotic lesbian sex scenes and the pigeons and ghastly cadavers galore finale. But as a whole, the film is wantonly garbled without a through- line to sustain the coherence of the plot (e.g. why Sarah's scientific background doesn't elicit any interest in Miriam's undying mystery? also, what on earth happens to the frenzied monkey which kills its partner and ages drastically?).The icy but ever-so-glamorous Deneuve is stunningly camera-genic, Bowie endures a terrifyingly rapid progeria downturn with the zombie-alike make-up efforts, and Sarandon is so earthly banal compared to the alien but dazzling Deneuve. But none of them can outstrip the ill-defined story. The hunger for eternal youth and the fear of ageing play out as one can expect, but mostly it is an enticing piece of kitsch drawing on blatant erotism and gimcrack horror. Nevertheless it does spawn many tributes for latecomers, off the top of my head, John Woo's trademark fascination of pigeons in the action set pieces and the latest American HORROR STORY: HOTEL, the entrance sequence of Lady Gaga and Matt Bomer is surely an updated representation of Denueve and Bowie here.

Maziun This is one of the few movies with vampires that I like . It's one of the best horror movies of the 80's and it's underrated. It's also the only horror movie made by Tony Scott (RIP). He later made many action and thriller movies , which is surprising because when you're watching " The Hunger" you could think he was born to make horror movies . Sadly , this is his only movie from this genre. " The Hunger" is such a relentlessly revisionist vampire film that we never see any fangs, crucifixes or even hear the word vampire mentioned anywhere throughout. The vampirism is implied as being scientific in nature (associated with blood transfusions, a gerontology lab).The most supernatural the film ever gets is the seeming subconscious telepathy that Miriam and Sarah share.David Bowie , Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon make a great trio. The chemistry between them is undeniable. The acting is top notch . You don't see actors trying to be like vampires , you see vampires from flesh and blood. Basically , the whole movie is build upon those 3 actors and without them it would fall apart. You really care what happens to the characters.The movie is visually beautiful . Just like his more famous brother Ridley , Tony has a love of dusky chiaroscuro lighting schemes filtered through hazy smoke-filled rooms, strobe-lit action scenes and the heavily symbolic use of doves. The old-age makeup work by Dick Smith is outstanding.Very rarely you will see such well directed horror movie . More than anything, what the film embodies is a fear of death and aging. The pace is often slow. There are some short , but very intense scary moments. There are also some lovely erotic scenes , but I wouldn't call "The Hunger" an erotic thriller . This is horror movie , folks.I don't think that this movie is rather too deep . It is a triumph of look over content. However , it asks some important questions about humanity , love and death. From today's point of view the movie is little outdated and there's more style instead of substance . Despite that it's enjoyable and definitively worth watching . Watch this instead of "Twilight".I give it 7/10. Watch out for Willem Defoe ("The Platoon") in small role of a guy near the phone booth.

ebiros2 The movie is bit unusual in that French, British, and American actors all share a starring role. The movie perhaps for that reason seems to be made to appeal to both American and European audiences. The tone of visuals are more like artsy European movies, but the plot that aging process is being scientifically investigated is kind of American science fiction-ish touch. The story is about vampirism, so there's erotic touch to the story. But the erotic touch is different from any other types of movie I've seen. It's gorgeous and seductive at the same time.All three leads, Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon looks fantastic in this movie. I've never seen any of them so beautiful before. It's really one of a kind movie performed by top notch actors at the height of their beauty, and is worth a watch7.5/10