Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve) is an immortal vampire, who promises certain humans they will embrace eternal life if they become her lover. We see her current lover is John (David Bowie), a young and attractive cellist. The two comfortably live within their own means, sucking blood from unsuspecting people at the nightclubs they frequently venture and assimilate to New York life quite nicely. Feeding on young souls is what keeps Miriam and John eternally young and attractive, and presumably have an incorruptible youthfulness in terms of appearance and state-of-mind.It isn't until John begins to suffer from chronic insomnia that robs him of his youthful looks and makes him show his age, roughly over two-hundred-years-old, meaning that while he has inherited eternal life, he will never inherit eternal youth. John seeks the help and companionship of Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon), a veteran gerontologist (age specialist) who has researched the aging effects in primates for many years. As John tries to decide whether to fight or come to terms with his aging, which has rendered him lethargic and hideous, Sarah tries to find comfort and answers with her sexuality and her own mortality. Her boyfriend Tom (Cliff De Young) notices her spending more time with Miriam, leading him to question her intentions as she becomes dangerously drawn to the lifestyle Miriam lives by.Tony Scott's directorial debut The Hunger is one of the damnedest films I've seen in quite sometime, and certainly one of the more interesting vampire films, and directorial debuts for that matter, I've seen, as well. It's a combination of an exercise in modern Gothic style and the elaboration on vampire life in a way that's serious and believable. The Hunger plays like a devilishly sleek and visual soap opera that never so much as scares, but entrances, as it moves with the grace and elegance of a femme fatale, but hulks and lingers like Nosferatu in terms of the presence it reveals.Simply put, this is an experience more-so than it is a film to find yourself attached to. I found myself rather alienated by the characters in the film, and more concerned with Scott's approach to style and filmmaking craft. The dichotomy of filmmaking brothers Ridley and Tony Scott always fascinates me because where Ridley lacks in craft and detail, Tony always seems to excel, even in his later action pictures like Unstoppable, which have now become grounds for "vulgar auteurism." Tony gets the details of The Hunger down to a tee, be them in an aesthetic perspective that allows the bright color of red to pulsate through the screen at various points in the film, or in a narrative perspective, which has Sarandon's Sarah the main subject of serious commentary on sexual awakening, particularly lesbianism and whether or not her story is a parable of coming to terms with one's own sexuality.The Hunger is less a film defined by the strength of its acting, but by the sheer presences and personalities its performers exist as, particularly Catherine Deneuve, who radiates enigma throughout the entire film. A beautiful soul in the film, yet undeniably troubled and weighed down by circumstance, Deneuve's Miriam manages to be one of the film's most fascinating characters, despite most of the crucial events of the film happening to David Bowie's John, largely because of her ominous presence throughout the course of the film.The Hunger's most prominent shortcoming comes in the regard of its editing, which juxtaposes the story of Dr. Roberts with Miriam and John's, causing a rather tumultuous and unpolished editing scheme that has Scott at a quandary in terms of maintaining narrative cohesion. Because of this, Scott can't focus on one particular character or situation and fully develop them, and instead, tries to balance out the playing field by throwing in another story when, in reality, bot need separate developments. It's a classic device many use on their directorial debut to try and prevent monotony and give the audiences a lot to digest, though it backfires here largely because of its strange and carefully plotted story.With that, the aura of The Hunger and the cast itself, are worth the price of admission. This is a vampire film as original and immersive as it is perplexing, and the style of the film mimics that of Gothic/Victorian-era decor without being too overbearing or reliant on setpieces. Scott and company have, in turn, crafted a vampire film not guaranteed to live forever, but one that will not die quickly thanks to all it lays out on the table.Starring: Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, and Cliff De Young. Directed by: Tony Scott.

David Bowie was absolutely amazing at playing his role as a goth guy. I really wish he appeared more and given more lines in the film. He is just a legend like!I thought the sex scene's were really well done. Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve made their relationship blossomed and gave each other passionate with love not rushed throughout this film. Both ladies were absolutely stunning! I liked how stylish the actors looked because it gave us that feeling of the early stages of goth subculture. It just looked really attractive to think they wore them back then. I'm pretty much a sucker for goth fashion so I'm really glad to have watched this film!

Gorgeous, wealthy vampire Catherine Deneuve takes on lovers throughout the ages with the promise of eternal life, neglecting to tell them that after a few hundred years or so, they will age rapidly and spend eternity old and feeble in coffins. Her latest lover, David Bowie, starts the aging process and seeks help from scientist Susan Sarandon, who is doing advanced research in the field of accelerated aging. Unfortunately, she does not believe his tale until it is too late for him, and she herself ends up being ensnared in Deneuve's web of intrigue.Ridiculous film would be laughable were it not for the fact that it takes itself so seriously, so it ends up merely being dull and pretentious. It was a flop at the time of release, but has developed a cult following. It is difficult to see why. The plot is of almost no consequence here and functions as little more than a shaky framework on which to attach the next sex scene or violent attack. The entire film plays like one over-stretched perfume commercial.Gads of ink were spilled regarding the lesbian sex scene between Deneuve and Sarandon at a time when such things were just not done by name actresses. The scene itself is tastefully handled and a few misguided critics overpraised it, while conveniently overlooking that the film which surrounds it is pure ultra-chic garbage.Director Scott films everything and directs his actors so poorly here that one waits for one of them to face the camera with a perfume bottle and start hawking it. The plot is fairly incoherent, especially as the film proceeds. Bowie manages some decent moments, but he leaves the film entirely too early. Cliff DeYoung is wasted as Sarandon's ill-fated boyfriend. Deneuve and Sarandon are both filmed ravishingly, but this is neither one's best day - Deneuve is particularly dreadful here.If anyone can fathom the motive behind the absurd final moments where an army of Deneuve's decrepit former lovers rise for some reason from their coffins (has she been dragging all these coffins all over the world with her?) and rebel against and attack her, while she shrieks "I love you. I love you all!" in a laughable monotone, then you are doing better than I.

Let's see, the ubiquitous Bowie has appeared as a spaceman ("The Man Who Fell to Earth", a goblin king ("Labyrinth"), a famous teleporting scientist ("The Prestige") and Andy Worhol ("Basquiat"). But his vampire role in "The Hunger" goes down in my book as being Bowie to the max."The Hunger" is an elegant, artistic, original vampire story which came very close to perfection, improved upon the book in one particular way but then blew it in the last few moments. I won't ruin it, but just bear in mind the last 2 minutes were tacked on at the insistence of the studio suits who wanted to set the stage for a sequel. The problem, as Susan Sarandon says in the commentary, is the studio's ending completely negates the point of the story (at least the way she intended to play her character). So if you're left a bit confused, just ignore the last few minutes and maybe it'll make sense. Other than that, this was an almost perfect thriller that boldly crosses the line into "art house film".The film takes a very stylish, chic look at vampires in the modern world (although, make note that the word "vampire" is never used). Note that both the book and the film pre-dated Anne Rice's stylish "Interview with the Vampire" by 10 years. I think it's fair to say that "The Hunger" might've been the first story to take the classic Victorian vampire story and make it into a fashionable, urban, young & sexy tale.A large part of its stylish presentation is the artistic camera & lighting throughout the film. I can't call this a "dark" film because actually the scenes are full of light. But the light is always blocked, shuttered or obscured, leaving the actors steeped in shadows and contrast despite the gleaming ghostly light sources. The result is a feeling of isolation, or rather, INSULATION from the daylight ...a secret world of shadows hiding right under the sun. There are lots of flowing curtains, gossamer sheets and graceful camera movements, complimented by classical cello & piano sonatas, giving it a smooth, intimate vibe of a dream.Or should I say 'nightmare'? This film definitely has its disturbing moments. The shots of blood & gore are convincingly done and quick, making them seem even more unsettling. The film also oozes with sexual encounters which might make some feel uncomfortable, but just bear in mind it's still pretty tame compared to the book. But really, the film's approach is so different from the book that no comparisons should be made. I do believe that the film added a great degree of poetry and beauty to the tale, giving it a distinct style that few films have been able to achieve. With ample use of classical pieces (the Lakmé opera from 1883) and an artist's approach to colors, contrast, flowy movement & surreal visuals, "The Hunger" is definitely a thing of beauty.If I had to list similar films (this is a tough one), I'd probably put it in league with the obscure art-house scifi films "Tykho Moon", and Wim Wenders brilliant "Until the End of the World." Its heavy pacing & graceful presentation is hard not to compare to the well known films directed by Tony's big bro, Ridley Scott ("Blade Runner") but moreso like Peter Blatty's criminally underrated masterpiece "Exorcist III". As far as more recent films go, it has a similar tense, brooding atmosphere like in "Black Swan". Movies like these are pretty hard to come by, so don't miss your chance to see em.