The Hunger (1983)

A love triangle develops between a beautiful yet dangerous vampire, her cellist companion, and a gerontologist.

Director:

Tony Scott

Writers:

Ivan Davis (screenplay), Michael Thomas (screenplay)

Stars:

Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Catherine Deneuve	...	Miriam Blaylock
David Bowie	...	John Blaylock
Susan Sarandon	...	Sarah Roberts
Cliff De Young	...	Tom Haver
Beth Ehlers	...	Alice Cavender
Dan Hedaya	...	Lieutenant Allegrezza
Rufus Collins	...	Charlie Humphries
Suzanne Bertish	...	Phyllis
James Aubrey	...	Ron
Ann Magnuson	...	Young Woman from Disco
John Stephen Hill	...	Young Man from Disco
Shane Rimmer	...	Arthur Jelinek
Bauhaus	...	Disco Group
Douglas Lambert	...	TV Host
Bessie Love	...	Lillybelle

Storyline

The Egyptian vampire lady Miriam subsists upon the blood of her lovers. In return the guys or girls don't age until Miriam has had enough of them. Unfortunately that's currently the case with John, so his life expectancy is less than 24 hours. Desperately he seeks help from, the famous, Dr. Sarah Roberts. She doesn't really believe his story, but becomes curious and contacts Miriam . . . and gets caught in her spell, too.

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Plot Keywords:

immortality | woman on rollerskates | self defense | attempted murder | strong female character | 

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Taglines:

Nothing Human Loves Forever

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

El ansia

Filming Locations:

6 Chesterfield Gardens, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,832,898, 1 May 1983, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$5,979,292

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Peerford Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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".

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Goofs

In the climactic sequence, Miriam takes a swipe at one of the cadavers, knocking its jaw off. The impact causes it to wobble, making it obvious that it is a rigid, lightweight prop.

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Quotes

[first lines]
John Blaylock: No ice.

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Connections

Followed by The Hunger 2

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Soundtracks

Funtime
Written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop
Performed by Iggy Pop

User Reviews

Gother Than Thou

"The Hunger" opens with the by now familiar Goth anthem "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus. Not a bad way to open a vampire film, though nowadays it would seem almost a parody. "Undead undead undead" indeed. Enter Cathy and Bowie into a slick, sleek, neon nightclub, filled to the rafters with post-punks & pre-Goths playing dead. Too bad they weren't as ready for the real thing as they thought they were. You see, Cathy and Bowie are vampires.

This is a visually stunning film, making up for in effects what it sometimes lacks in coherence. It seems that lovely, immortal Cathy, called Miriam, is a vampire queen who has been around since the Sphinx was built, apparently. Bowie is her consort, a once mortal man whose two hundred-odd year lifespan is suddenly winding down at a frighteningly rapid rate. Desperate to find a cure, he seeks out scientist Susan Sarandon, who at first disbelieves Bowie's claims, but is soon convinced when the young and handsomely androgynous man suddenly ages over the course of a few hours time into a decrepit ruin. Miriam, who has had countless lovers over the centuries, gives Bowie the heave-ho and turns her attention to lovely young Sarandon. But Sarandon, though initially easy to seduce (in an erotic lesbian scene) proves to have a will stronger than Miriam's, and Miriam's habit of keeping her collection of ex-lovers cadavers close at hand, proves to be a mistake.

This is a strange film, almost as cold and dispassionate as one might well imagine a vampire to be. It seems to hold the viewer at arms length, not allowing them to experience the emotions of the characters...but the characters, for the most part, are severely lacking in emotion anyway, so the stark emptiness of the film becomes a brilliant mirror. Some vampire enthusiasts might find this boring and confusing, but it's a good effort and not a total loss.

The three main characters are worth watching simply for their amazing beauty and grace. Tony Scott (brother of Ridley) has made a nice, if somewhat bizarre and chilling, work of art here and, like most works of art, it's up for interpretation.