The Hunger poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, Cliff De Young, Beth Ehlers ... see more see more... , Dan Hedaya , Rufus Collins , Suzanne Bertish , James Aubrey , Bauhaus , Willem Dafoe , Lise Hilboldt , Douglas Lambert , Bessie Love , Ann Magnuson , John Pankow , Shane Rimmer , Philip Sayer , Sophie Ward , Ed Wiley , Allan Richards , Michael Howe

The exquisitely beautiful Catherine Deneuve plays Miriam, a centuries-old vampire capable of bestowing the gift of immortality on her lovers -- namely her current partner John (David Bowie). To sustai... read more read more...n their sanguinary requirements, the pair cruises New York nightclubs in search of victims (as illustrated in a stunning opening sequence to the accompaniment of "Bela Lugosi's Dead" performed by seminal Goth band Bauhaus). When John awakens one morning to discover telltale signs of aging, it is revealed that his own sustained youth is not permanent, and his physical decrepitude begins to increase at an incredible rate. In a panic, John visits the clinic of scientist Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon), who has recently published a book on reversing the aging process, but she initially dismisses him as a crank, leaving him to sit in the lobby for several hours... during which his body ages several decades. After learning of his condition, Sarah traces John to his uptown flat. John is nowhere to be found, having been consigned by Miriam to a box in the attic with her legions of undead loves, leaving Miriam to deal with Sarah -- which she does quite effectively, seducing her into a steamy lesbian tryst. Their passion is consummated by a mingling of Miriam's blood with Sarah's, which later manifests itself as a psychic link between the two women and leaves Sarah with a rapidly-increasing appetite for blood. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Flixster Users

65% liked it

11,946 ratings

Critics

42% liked it

26 critics

R, 1 hr. 38 min.

Directed by: Tony Scott

Release Date: April 29, 1983

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: October 5, 2004

Get It:

Stats: 1,012 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

The Hunger The Hunger The Hunger Susan Sarandon & David Bowie The Hunger The Hunger The Hunger The Hunger The Hunger The Hunger
Upload a Photo | View All The Hunger Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (1,012)

  • rubystevens
    January 8, 2012
    rubystevens
    1983, u ninnies! i watched this in honor of bowie's 65th b-day :D don't know how i missed it back in the day but in 2012 it's actually quite fun. it's very stylish and dark and kinda sleazy. denueve and bowie are a stunning couple; too bad he disappears halfway through, but the... read moren we get a denueve-sarandon makeout scene so it's all good. or at least way better than twilight. sure, it doesn't make a lot of sense and it's shot like an mtv video but the cast is great and highly watchable: bowie is always impressive imo and deneuve is an ice goddess. plus the aging effects here are magnificent. happy b-day david! u still look pretty damn good!
  • phubbs1
    December 8, 2011
    phubbs1
    British vampire thriller from Tony Scott that really really does look like one of those old Cadbury's Flake adverts from the 80's. The constant swirling sweeping silky curtains fluttering in the breeze for no apparent reason, pale females with too much makeup, birds flapping n sw... read moreooping romantically about the set in slow motion and lots of sexual slobbering haha.

    Aside from that its not a bad vamp flick, extremely glossy and highly stylised but admittedly not much else. The plot and concept for the vampires is annoyingly confusing bringing up so many questions, why does only the lover/secondary vamp seem to age? why do they age when they are vamps? why do they age so quick? why does 'Miss Blaylock' age at the end? why does feeding on blood not save them etc...I could on.

    Really this feels like an experiment in film making and imagery, its very glamorous and classy looking with a cast to match...Bowie, Sarandon and Deneuve, one could almost say its one long perfume advert or music video seeing as the plot ideas are so unexplained. I also find it rather odd that this sultry female vampire is somehow able to store loads of coffins with rotting mummies in her attic without them being noticed (the smell?), and why she also seems to have a pigeon infestation up there too lol!, she sure does like long flowing silky drapes though.

    Definitely a cult and certainly worth seeing if you like vampire films, horror/thrillers or unusual one offs as films like this don't come along very often. Strongly advise seeing if you also have a Sarandon fetish hehe ;)
  • cosmo313
    November 21, 2011
    cosmo313
    This is Tony Scott's debut film, and, well, let's put it this way: had the rest of his films been done in the same manner as this one, then his career would be pretty different than the way it is.

    This is a vampie film based on a novel, though I use the term loosely as it isn't ... read moreever actually used in the film itself (almost self consciously it seems), and the rules aren't really established and not a whole lot is explained. The plot concerns a classy and sophisticated couple of fiends named John and Miriam (Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie) who are immortal. When he begins to suddenly age, they seek out the help of a geriatics researcher named Sarah (Susan Sarandon) who ends up becoming more than just a source of help for them, especially Miriam.

    I appreciate that this film tries to be something different, and is rather classy, sophisticated, and artsy, but it's also painfully slow and dull. Not much really makes a whole lot of sense, though the concept is kinda cool. The film is wonderfully shot, and looks beautiful, but the editing is awful and choppy, and really jarring at times. I didn't like the score, but I did enjoy the classical tunes that are used at times as well as "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus, who also cameo in the opening scene.

    The casting of the principals is good, and their performances aren't terrible, but not really great either. Cameos by Dan Hedaya and Willem Dafoe help things out a tad though. The makeup and effects are actually decent, but there's only really a couple of scenes that are all that great, the best being a tasteful love scene between Sarandon and Deneuve. I wouldn't call it erotic, but it is pretty sexy.

    The film doesn't really work, but for a directorial debut it could be a whole lot worse. That's kidna the problem though, since the film isn't a clear complete failure, it drives me nuts becuase it is a failure, but he has some redeeming aspects that almost make it work. I'm torn on this one, and don't really recommend it, but let's just chalk it up to good intentions gone sour and give it around a C or C-.
  • moonrivers
    July 28, 2011
    moonrivers
    Moody, nuanced and erotic, Tony Scott gives his best in this suave spooker about ubercool postmodern New Yawk vampires.
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    June 30, 2011
    TheDudeLebowski65
    In the 1980's you had three phenomenal vampire films, Fright Night, The Lost Boys and Near Dark. All of them horror classics, and all of them excellent films. But there's one vampire film that has been obscured by those superior films, and that's The Hunger. The popularity of tho... read morese films have place The Hunger in the shadows, and has made people forget the film. I only first heard of this film by watching the making of Top Gun, and the film was briefly mentioned. This was directors Tony Scott's first feature film, and it's an impressive first film, but it's also nothing too extraordinary. Having watched this, I can understand why the film has not been that well received by critics and audiences. Well, for me I think it's a good film, but lacks the power of the other vampire films of the 80's. The film is boring, slow moving and some will lose interest. The Hunger's high points are in the acting, not so much in the story, as I fiound it to be quite ordinary, and the atmosphere. Those are the two aspects of the film that saved this from being a total dud. The Hunger is an impressive film like I said because it shows the very first attempt at directing by Tony Scott, who would later helm some action packed roller coaster rides. I thought it was impressive that he directed such a film, because of his resume of work. I never thought he did anything else other than action films. The Hunger is an average vampire film that has really good acting, and great atmosphere, but at times the story falls a little flat, and you come to realize that thereare things that could have been redone, and you realize why this film has gotten the reiviews it has and why its not among the classic vampire films of the 80's.
  • MissMorganLeee
    June 12, 2011
    MissMorganLeee
    I love David Bowie but I'm not big on Susan Sarandon...I stoped watching half way through because 1. David Bowie died. and 2. The movie just didnt seem to be going anywhere...
  • WrenchLT
    March 1, 2011
    WrenchLT
    A Vamp film that refreshingly ignores some of the age old clichés - the word "vampire" isn't even used. It's pretty stylized all the way through and it plays out like a 90 minute music video featuring some mildly bloody moments and soft erotica with Catherine Deneuve's seduction ... read moreof Susan Sarandon being particularly sexy. Special mention also to the make-up team who did a remarkable job with the aging prosthetics applied to David Bowie who plays a rapidly aging vampire. I did just find this an 'ok' film though at the end of it all. A bit slow and boring at times, but it has its moments of interest and it's easy on the eye.
  • ceWEBrity
    January 20, 2011
    ceWEBrity
    An absolutely wretched piece of 80s offal. Points are earned for what I presume was some semblance of originality, as I guess Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve locked in a lesbian vampire affair was pretty sensational back in the day. I guess if you're into viewing films as ti... read moreme capsules as I am, there's a certain curiosity to be derived from the nightmare disco aesthetic and its subsequent segues to dreamy, pseudo-erotic ephemerality. But all of this is clearly striving for something greater, positing its lesbianism as high art rather than a cheap thrill scaffolding a crappy film; Tony Scott clearly had faith in his product when it obviously didn't merit any. It's way too far up its ass to serve any sort of camp value, and the plot is an incredible non-event. Many of the sequences are populated with unbearable pauses, protracting a senseless mystery about David Bowie getting older and Deneuve is an evil vampire or something. The screenplay is probably about forty pages long, and I imagine Scott took one look at it and decided to pad it with "meaningful" silence and imagery. The only real praise I have for The Hunger is that it could easily be worse, but in this day and age there's honestly no reason to see it at all.
  • ajv2688
    January 14, 2011
    ajv2688
    Yes, this movie has Bowie in a cool role as a vampire, and the rest of the cast is good too, but I don't like the story, it's different from other vampire movies, but it's just so scientific and weird, too weird for me. Overall, this is a cool looking movie, but the story needs ... read morework.
  • ythelastman89
    April 6, 2010
    ythelastman89
    Sort've the female equivalent of Interview With The Vampire, only this is taken far more seriously and is more logical than most vampire films. Tony Scott's debut is stunning, everything a gothic 80s movie should look like. The performances from Susan Sarandon, Catherine Deneuve ... read moreand David Bowie only add to the enjoyment level. I love that the topics of desperation and helplessness are done so well, they aren't the strong and immortal Vampires you meet most of the time.

View All The Hunger Reviews

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
November 18, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

In his feature debut, director Tony Scott, brother of Ridley, exhibits the same penchant for eleborate art direction, minimal, humorless dialog and shooting in smoky rooms. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The Hunger is an agonizingly bad vampire movie, circling around an exquisitely effective sex scene. Sorry, but that's the way it is, and your reporter has to be honest. Full Review

Vincent Canby
August 30, 2004
Vincent Canby, New York Times

The movie reeks with chic, but never, for one minute, takes itself too seriously, nor does it ever slop over into camp. Full Review

Dave Kehr
January 1, 2000
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

The obsessive conjunction of lesbian sex and flowing blood suggests a deep-seated misogyny, but neither this nor any other theme is registered with enough clarity to offend. Full Review

Renee Schonfeld
March 8, 2011
Renee Schonfeld, Common Sense Media

Bloody lesbian-vampire story is stylish, but no Twilight. Full Review

Cynthia Fuchs
April 7, 2009
Cynthia Fuchs, PopMatters

The focus of Hunger is emphatically the death of Bobby Sands, specifically, what happens to his body, viewed from a tragic outside and, to an imaginative extent, a determined inside. Full Review

Raoul Hernandez
November 18, 2008
Raoul Hernandez, Austin Chronicle

More style than substance, and perhaps simply an excuse to get Denueve and Susan Sarandon, Miriam's post-Bowie love, in bed together. Full Review

November 18, 2008
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A slick, largely empty visual exercise with vague thematic overtones about a clash between American and European culture. Full Review

Cole Smithey
November 4, 2007
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Deneuve and Sarandon are something else.

June 24, 2006
Time Out

Visual sensualities will have a feast, but you'll have to read Whitley Strieber's novel if you don't want to emerge with a badly scratched head. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Priest
    Priest (94%)
  • Shadow of the Vampire
    Shadow of the Vampire (100%)
  • The Return of Dracula (The Curse of Dracula) (The Fantastic Disappearing Man)
    The Return of Dracula (The Curse of Dracula) ... (0%)
  • Dracula - Prince of Darkness
    Dracula - Prince of Darkness (0%)

More Movies like The Hunger

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

The Hunger : Watch Free on TV

The Hunger Trivia

  • Who played in The Hunger, The Man Who Fell To Earth, and The Labyrinth?  Answer »
  • Who played an immortal vampire who happens to die of old age in the film "The Hunger"?  Answer »
  • Which cheesy horror flick is the following quote featured in? "By the stroke of twelve on Hallow's Eve morn, A curse be cast of evil born, Soaked in blood, Stained in hate, Unholy harvest be their fate, Bloodline spawned by the keeper of the dead, Death's yearly hunger being fed..."  Answer »
  • "The Hunger", "Labyrinth", "Basquiat", "Twin Peaks", "Mr. Rice's Secret", & "The Prestige" are all films starring famous musician...  Answer »
More The Hunger Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for The Hunger. Want to create one?

Video Clips

Upload a Video |

All The Hunger Videos

Meet Other Fans

Add The Hunger to favorites

Recent News

Submit a Story |

View The Hunger News

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

littlecharmer1959 Skin by littlecharmer1959
22 Profiles
Add to Profile

More Skins