The Hunger

The Hunger (1983)

** (out of 4)

When vampire Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve) bites a new lover, they don't age, which is a great benefit but that changes when she's done with you and wants someone else. John (David Bowie) finds himself aging at a rapid pace so he goes to a doctor (Susan Sarandon) for help but soon the doctor finds herself under the spell of Miriam.

THE HUNGER features some truly great stuff but sadly it's all pretty much lost in this rather bland movie that's certainly a strange take on the vampire story but in the end there's just way too much style and not a lot of substance. Director Tony Scott certainly likes his style even when it overtakes any sort of story that might have been in the screenplay. There's all sorts of quick edits here and it's clear that the director wants you to be impressed with how many cuts there are in one small sequence. As far as the story goes, I guess they figured since you had two beautiful women naked and making out with each other you didn't need a story.

As I said, there are some terrific things here including the special effects of Dick Smith who had to take a very young Bowie and age him in front of our eyes. The special effects used are simply brilliant and you almost with that the entire 97-minutes would have been devoted to watching Bowie grow old. This sequence doesn't contain the power that it should have, thanks to the direction, but there's no doubt that you're eyes will be one the effects. Another major plus are the actual performances from the three leads. Bowie is marvelous here and steals the film as you really can feel his character's fear of growing old, which of course means his life is going to be over. Deneuve is also extremely good having to work with limited dialogue. The same with Sarandon who falls under her spell.

The now infamous lesbian scene has two beautiful women who are obviously easy to look at but even the style to it wasn't all that impressive. Obviously, I wasn't overly thrilled in how director Scott handled the picture. It's really a shame because there aren't too many horror movies that get this type of cast and in the end you can't help but feel that it was a wasted opportunity even with the great moments that are scattered throughout.