The Hunger (1983) MGM/Horror RT: 97 minutes Rated R (violence, frightening images, nudity, strong sexual content) Director: Tony Scott Screenplay: Ivan Davis and Michael Thomas Music: Denny Jaeger and Michel Rubini Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt Release date: April 29, 1983 (US) Cast: Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, Cliff De Young, Beth Ehlers, Dan Hedaya, Rufus Collins, Suzanne Bertish, James Aubrey, Ann Magnuson, John Stephen Hill, Shane Rimmer, Bauhaus. Box Office: $5.9M (US)
Rating: *** ½
Are there still any Twilight fans out there? If so, they ought to check out The Hunger if they want to see a good romantic vampire movie. That’s what I wanted to say in my opening, but it dawned on me that The Hunger and the Twilight Saga are as similar as night and an overcast day. One is a teen romance with sparkling vampires; the other is more sexual in nature with vampires that don’t glisten in the sunlight. In fact, the word “vampire” is never once uttered. Yet we still understand what the main characters are by the fact they drink the blood of their victims. They need it to survive.
Directed by Tony Scott (Top Gun), The Hunger introduces to an elegant wealthy couple, Miriam (Deneuve, Belle de Jour) and John (Bowie, The Man Who Fell to Earth). John has been with Miriam since the 18th century when she promised him they’d be together “forever and ever” before transforming him. They meet a young couple at a New York punk club and bring them back to their luxurious townhouse where they slit their throats and drink their blood. These particular bloodsuckers don’t have fangs; they use small ankh-knives they wear around their necks.
By day, John and Miriam teach classical music to young people like teenage violinist Alice (Ehlers, Hiding Out). One day, he starts to age rapidly. It turns out Miriam’s promise of eternal life does not include eternal youth. He seeks the help of Dr. Sarah Roberts (Sarandon, The Rocky Horror Picture Show), a gerontologist that specializes in premature aging disorders. She initially blows him off thinking he’s just another crackpot. By the time she realizes he’s for real (he ages about 100 years in the waiting room), he no longer wants her help. He still needs to feed, so he kills Alice when she stops by the house to see Miriam.
Miriam is none too pleased about this development; she was grooming the girl to be her next companion after John is gone. By this point, he’s become so decrepit that Miriam places him in a coffin in the attic next to her other former lovers. They’re NOT dead; they live in a state of eternal living death. Now completely alone, Miriam needs to find a new consort. That’s when Dr. Sarah shows up looking for John. It’s clear the two women are attracted to each other. They have a sexual encounter; Sarah begins to change shortly thereafter.
Meanwhile, Lt. Allegrezza (Hedaya, Running Scared) of the NYPD comes around asking questions about young Alice’s disappearance. It would be natural to assume that this would become a major subplot, but little screen time is devoted to it. The primary focus of The Hunger is the relationship between Miriam and Sarah. Their sex scene is the most erotic love scene I’ve ever seen in a movie. It’s visually beautiful and very sexy. It’s tasteful rather than sordid. It’s easy to understand why it’s the scene for which The Hunger will always be remembered.
In my opinion, there are a lot of things that make The Hunger a memorable viewing experience, the most obvious being the sexy and seductive performance from Ms. Deneuve. She’s the ideal choice to play a beautiful, classy woman who’s been sneaking around the world for about 3000 years (since the days of ancient Egypt). She’s a cold-blooded creature in every sense of the word. Bowie is also quite good even though he’s only in it for the first half, most of it under heavy and convincing old-age makeup. The rock singer-actor specializes in unusual roles. His physical attributes- pale complexion and slim build- combined with his slightly-off demeanor make for a cool modern vampire. Sarandon’s wide-eyed innocence is perfect for the role of the doctor/research scientist who finds herself in the same situation as the subjects she’s been observing. She’s looking for a way to decelerate the process of premature aging. What’s she to do now that she finds herself facing the same fate?
What’s really cool about The Hunger is its visual style. It’s a film of great beauty; every shot is artfully done. This is the directorial debut of Tony Scott. He shows great promise as a filmmaker. Like older brother Ridley (Blade Runner), he favors style over substance. The Hunger moves slowly and the plot is slim, but the idea is to savor every shot of the movie. It plays like a classy music video. Curtains float in the breeze, doves fly around in the attic and the love scenes are shot in soft-focus. The cinematography by Stephen Goldblatt is remarkable. The music is also great. The opening scene features British punk rock band Bauhaus performing “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”. It’s an appropriate choice that immediately lets the viewer know The Hunger isn’t a traditional vampire movie in the vein of the original Dracula. When Miriam and Sarah have their first sexual encounter, “The Flower Duet” is heard over the soundtrack. It’s a great use of the famous soprano duet from Lakme (the opera by Leo Delibes).
The Hunger is one of my all-time favorite vampire movies. It’s more of a tragic opera than a straight-up horror flick. It has a few violent bloody scenes, but the emphasis is on sex and the relationships of the major characters. Nobody grows fangs, sports a black cape or transforms into a bat. These vampires are like everyday people. These are people that could conceivably exist in the real world as opposed to some strange dude who lives in a big, dusty castle in Transylvania.
I don’t think The Hunger can be considered an all-out horror movie; however, the climactic scene seems to be inspired by other classic and not-so-classic horror movies. It was a box office disappointment at the time of its release, but has achieved cult status over the years and deservedly so. It’s an original take on one of the oldest horror subgenres. It’s more sensual than violent. It’s beautiful to look at and has an operatic quality to it. Plain and simple, it’s a work of art.
