The Hunger (1983)

This was a special screening of the Hunger hosted by the Colorado Festival of Horror and Horrible Things at The Empty Warehouse. The film was picked by Elisa Sargent and before the film started she said that this was the film that made her think about aging and the role it plays in our lives. I had never really thought of aging in this way, maybe it was because I grew up living with my grandparents and for me age/aging was just something that was there and you just dealt with daily. Bowie's rapid aging and physical deterioration could be seen as horrific to those that fear aging and/or becoming disabled. Living with disability has also always been a part of my life, so for me these aspects of horror do not really impact me. For me this film fits into horror because people do die in it from being attacked by vampires in ways that can be seen as scary. Not all vampire movies fall into the horror film genre for me. I think of films like Twilight, The Little Vampire, and Vampires Suck where these films are not scary and for me horror has to have the scare factor.

This is a classic vampire film. For those that are not familiar with the plot: A female vampire has to keep making companions because her blood can only extend their lives for so long and at the end they rapidly age. They are still 'alive' in this rapidly aged state, but since they can no longer function she stores them in coffins in her attic. Just like her, they feed off blood.

It had been more then a decade since I had last seen this film and it was interesting watching it with a group of people. I like watching movies with people to read their reactions. I was surprised at how quiet this screening was. I only noticed reactions a couple of times from people in the audience. I wasn't sure how to read this. I had a feeling that most of the people in them room had seen this film before and thought that may have reduced their reactions since they knew what was going to happen. I had also forgot how much nudity was in this film. Personally I felt like there was too much direct nudity that felt like they were doing it just to see what they could get away with. Sex scenes in films should have some artisticness to them or it just crosses into porn. So in a way this film could fit into the vampire porn category.  

If you are watching this film to get your fill of Bowie, you will be disappointed. He actually has little overall screen time. This makes since because he is mostly there just to show the end stage of the vampire's relationship and was not the main focus of the film. The film focuses on the attraction the vampire develops for Susan Sarandon and brings in lesbian aspects of vampire lore. 

For the films technical aspects, it is a classic 80s movie for the most part. This was a time before the heavy CGI that we are used to now and yet they managed to pull off the aging just through makeup. Bowie did age in real life much better then he did in the film, but it was realistic enough to get the point across. Also near the end of the film where all of the past lovers awaken was also well done.

Even though this film is considered a classic for vampire films, I just have never felt much pull for it. To me it just does not have the same power as the Lost Boys or older films like the Scars of Dracula. To me it is only a classic because of it's age and not quality. I think if Bowie would have had more screen time or if the plot was more compelling then it could have been something. To me it also didn't help that Sarandon's performance felt really flat when she was so important to the plot. I would actually be interested in a modern remake of this film to see if a new generation of film makers could turn the concepts of the film into something more attractive to film watchers. 2 stars out for 5 or a D+. 

The screening itself was great. There were both new and old faces with many having some type of connection to Colorado Festival of Horror. If you haven't been to that con I would highly recommend it. Of all the cons I attend each year I would say that it is the one that feels most like home for me because of how people there treat each other. After losing Star Fest and the decline of NDK it has been great to find a new con family. This venue was also great. I look forward to them doing more screenings at this location.

Picture From: https://www.facebook.com/events/1032253082384895/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22attachment%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22newsfeed%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D

A group photo showing how they have room for more people to join for the next one. Picture From: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1329613389164965&set=pcb.1329613489164955 posted by Daniel Crosier.

Picture 1 From: https://filmartgallery.com/collections/the-hunger-les-predateurs-movie-posters?page=2

Picture 2 From: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085701/

Picture 3 From: https://366weirdmovies.com/capsule-the-hunger-1983/

Picture 4 From: https://www.belcourt.org/films/the-hunger/

Picture 5 From: https://www.joblo.com/the-test-of-time-the-hunger-1983-185/

Picture 6 From: https://horrornews.net/47360/film-review-the-hunger-1983/

Picture 7 From: https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-true-story-behind-david-bowies-gothic-horror-movie-the-hunger