Skip to main content

Tony Scott month: The Hunger

We bring Tony Scott month to an end with a very deep cut for him. If you've been following along and watching the films as we go through the month, consider this your final exam. Strangely this is his first film and one of his strangest. This is the only horror film Scott made and one of the strangest films of the '80s.

The Hunger is basically about a very strange love triangle. Susan Sarandon plays Dr. Sarah Roberts, who is working with primates in an attempt to find a way to possibly reverse the aging process. She is approached by John Blaylock, played by the God himself David Bowie, who seems to age rapidly after Roberts denies his request for help. When she goes to find him, she is seduced by John's lover Miriam, played by the ravishing Catherine Deneuve.

The Hunger is part of the wave of vampire films that came out of the '80s. They were slicker than the likes of the dark violent ones that came from the '70s, such as the violent Hammer Dracula films. Films like The Lost Boys and Vamp added some major sexuality to the vampire myhtos. These aren't your Twilight vampires. These vampires are incredibly sexual and brutally violent. The perfect mix of the sexuality of Dracula and brutality of Count Orlock.

I rewatched this so I could properly cover it for Tony Scott month. I remembered that it didn't look like a lot of Tony Scott films but boy was I wrong. This film is so slick and Scott perfectly creates a dark but sexy world for these vampires to live in. Someone I haven't mentioned really at all during Tony Scott month is his brother Ridley, the director of just a couple of little films like Alien and Blade Runner. I am convinced these two collaborated on each other's films. Some scenes in The Hunger are straight out of Blade Runner. Ridley has a film called Black Rain, stay tuned for that to be covered one Friday, that also shares some similar aesthetic choices to The Hunger. There's no way these two weren't helping each other. Something has been missing from Ridley's films ever since Tony's death.

The Hunger is one you just need to go and watch. I don't want to spoil any beat of this film. Have some amount of tolerance for violence and nudity. We now reach the end of Tony Scott month. There's a few we didn't get to for one reason or another. One of his big films is being rolled over into next month but more on that later. But I'm glad we were able to highlight a majority of Tony Scott's filmography. This is one of my all time favorite directors and I hope some of you have a love for him now as well. He may be gone but we'll always have his films.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Forgotten Film Friday: Absolute Power

Clint Eastwood stars as Luther Whitney, a jewel thief who works in the Washington DC area. One night while he is stealing from a mansion he is forced to hide in a secret compartment with a two way mirror. From there he observes a sexual rezendevous with the wife of a powerful man and the President of the United States Alan Richmond (Gene Hackman) Suddenly the president gets aggressive and while defending herself the woman is shot to death by two Secret Service agents. Luther manages to get away with a letter opener the woman stabbed the president with. At first Luther plans to flee the country. But when he is disgusted by a statement the president makes, Luther decides to expose the crime. I miss these kind of films. The nineties was a great time for thrillers exactly like this. They are not the flashiest films but they are also not obsessed with big action scenes. It's all plot and character with them. Sure this plot might be a little out there but Eastwood makes it work. He's...

Oscar Bait month: The Shipping News

 A retrospective by Brooks Rich Lasse Hallstrom is one of those directors I think is incredibly talented but his films normally don't do a thing for me. There just always that comes up short for me, whether its the story or how its shot or the acting or something. Most people will know Hallstrom as the director of What's Eating Gilbert Grape, the breakout role of Leonardo Dicaprio. That is probably my favorite of his films. I know everyone loves Chocolat. Great, enjoy, I think it's lame. But today let's discuss his follow up to The Cider House Rules, his film from 1999 which did very well come awards season, and Chocolat. Both of these films did very well, especially The Cider House Rules. The big reward it got was Best Supporting Actor for Michael Caine. It also won Best Adapted Screenplay for John Irving. This isn't fair to Cider House Rules but I think it's overrated as far as nominations go. 1999 is one of the greatest years in cinema and really? We nominate...

John Travolta month: Saturday Night Fever

 A retrospective by Brooks Rich So this was not the big start of John Travolta's career. That would be the classic sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. But this did elevate Travolta to another level. For any of you going oh come on. This silly movie with a disco soundtrack? Come on, Brooks. Just wait. Have you ever actually seen this? This isn't about disco. Disco just happens to be the music of choice. This about the kind of people who are kings at the dance clubs and then losers the rest of the time. There is a lot of darkness and truth in this film. So if you've never seen it please. Do yourself a flavor and check it out. Just watch it and then come back to read this.  This is a movie about the different types of people we become between our real lives and our weekend lives. Tony Manero is a regular working class guy in a Brooklyn neighborhood, struggling to make ends meet and dealing with his loving but at times overbearing family. He lives in the shadow of his priest brother. ...