The late Tony Scotts penchant for onscreen flash and sizzle is foregrounded here in the advertising directors feature debut, a sophisticated modern vampire tale. The Hunger looks and sounds fantastic whether the conspicuous motif on ideas of consumption and the consumer succeeds in delivering substance over style is another matter. Bowie plays John, the unsuspecting victim of his lover Miriam, an ageless and probably alien predator who takes a lover in every era, offering them eternal life but keeping the truth of that life from them: as second generation monsters, they have a shelf life, and will begin degenerating rapidly after a few centuries. John realises his eventual fate once he notices hes begun to age, but by then its far too late he will join Miriams other decayed lovers, left to rot. Bowie is understated, cold but charming and debonair, and theres an element of pathos to his condition, as John discovers that far from being an immortal equal to his lover, hes just another victim, consumed by her as much as the people theyve murdered together over the years. Despite this, he remains distant: the reality of his situation doesnt render him any more human than he was at the outset of the film. John isnt interested in regaining his lost humanity, only his lost youth.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
