The Addiction (1995)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Abel Ferrara

Writer (WGA):

Nicholas St. John (written by)

Release Date:

6 October 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Drama

Tagline:

The dark is their sunlight. What makes them different is what keeps them alive.

Plot:

A New York anthropology grad student turns into a vampire after getting bitten by one, and then tries to come to terms with her new lifestyle and frequent craving for human blood.

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Blood | Drugs | Philosophy | College

Awards:

5 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Lili Taylor	...	Kathleen Conklin
Christopher Walken	...	Peina
Annabella Sciorra	...	Casanova
Edie Falco	...	Jean
Paul Calderon	...	Professor
Fredro Starr	...	Black
Kathryn Erbe	...	Anthropology Student
Michael Imperioli	...	Missionary
Jamal Simmons	...	Black's Friend (as Jamel 'Redrum' Simmons)
Michael A. Fella	...	Cop
Louis Katz	...	Doctor (as Louis A. Katz)
Leroy Johnson	...	Homeless Victim #1
Fred Williams	...	Homeless Victim #2
Avron Coleman	...	Cellist
Lisa Casillo	...	Mary

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA | Argentina

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Italy:VM14 | Norway:18 (TV rating) | Australia:R | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Company:

Fast Films

Trivia:

Film critic Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian placed the film at #1 in his top ten films of all time (as submitted for the 2002 Sight & Sound Poll)

Quotes:

Kathleen: How can we eat or drink? People like us?
Peina: I'm not like you. You're nothing. That's something you ought not to forget. You're not a person. You're nothing!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Short Film About the Long Career of Abel Ferrara (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

I Wanna Get High

Exceptional low-budget philosophical horror film.

Abel Ferrara's moody, allegorical vampire tale makes fascinating and pointed statements on sin and redemption, spirituality and the nature of good (there's precious little of it) and evil (no one is safe from it). And unfortunately, but not surprisingly, it was relatively ignored in America.

Lili Taylor gives a brooding, glib and haunting central performance as Kathleen Conklin, a New York University grad student who is pulled into an alley and bitten by a seductive female vampire (Annabella Sciorra), from which she emerges uncontrollably drawn into a world of violence and insatiable cravings for human blood. Ferrara's irredeemable urban hell landscape is more immediate and frightening than a million Transylvanias and by contrasting Taylor's "addiction" to the horrors of the past (war atrocities, the Holocaust) and present (heroine, AIDS), the film has more bite and impact than any fang-bearing, gore or special effects could even attempt to muster up. Nicolas St. John's intriguing philosophical screenplay and Ken Kelsch's gorgeous black and white photography (creating a world solely of light and dark, which is a key element in the plot), are not to be overlooked either.

Call it pretentious for the philosophy references (Sarte, Nietzche...) if you want, but this highly intelligent and disturbing low-budgeter is one of the most accomplished and well-thought out horror films I've ever seen. Don't let over-hyped, attention hogging Hollywood productions like BRAM STOKER'S Dracula or INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE keep you from seeing it.