Tony Scott’s The Hunger from 1983 is a stylish and delicious vampire tale that’s vastly underrated.
Like his brother Ridley, the late Tony Scott was a stylist – this film, his debut as a full length feature director is an art house film with an ending that is a concession to the box office and nothing more.
One of the most gorgeous films you’ll ever see, the script is a bit of mystery and is only there to serve the visuals – based on a book by Whitley Strieber the adaptation takes some bizarre turns and red herrings come and go in the short running time. What matters is the love story and the erotic charge inherent in the material.
The cast are wonderful, and the late David Bowie turns in a really heartfelt performance under sometimes heavy make-up. There’s melancholy and horror mixed together, something you don’t see often.
Highlight of the film is Susan Sarandon who plays Sarah and ends up in a lesbian relationship with Catherine Denueve. That’s probably the best looking lesbian paring in film history. Beyond the flesh on show Sarandon is fantastic; she really should have been a bigger star than she was. A great actress and a great beauty, I think sometimes Hollywood was scared of her clear intelligence and wit.
See the film, and enjoy the great soundtrack too.
Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, Eastenders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs. Matthew was winner of the first ever Lloyds Bank Channel Four Film Challenge, the Oscar Moore Screenplay Prize and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer. You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb. You can get in touch with Matthew on matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk