The Eclectic Choice: The Hunger

The Hunger (1983)
dir. Tony Scott


Picture a time when vampires movies weren't about sexy looking people hanging out in stylish clothing and rocking the night away before seductively bringing home the next victim. Yes, there was such a time.

Then 1983 came, Tony Scott made The Hunger and it was all over. I would harbor a guess that it was this film and The Lost Boys (1987) that ushered in the uber-cool vampire. The Hunger has a few things going for it. One, a sexy 80's looking Catherine Deneuve having a love scene with a sexy 80's looking Susan Sarandon. Two, David Bowie in some good aging makeup. And Three, Bauhaus in the opening credits performing Bela Lugosi Is Dead. A scene that basically says, we're crushing all the rules and starting something new. These vampires can survive in sunlight, come from Egypt and have lovers that quickly age and get stored in the attic to suffer for eternity.

This is not the worlds best vampire movie, but it did introduce us to a new type of vampire that would influence the genre and brought Tony Scott into the mainstream. You can judge for yourself if either of those are beneficial. It's an inexpensive and worthy purchase, so don't forget to give a listen to the commentary track by Scott and Sarandon.