Tony Scott - 15 Kick Ass Scenes To Remember Him By

9. €œBela Lugosi€™s Dead€ €“ Opening Sequence €“ The Hunger (1982)

The opening sequence of The Hunger isn€™t really in keeping with the rest of the film, let alone his other films. With The Hunger we get to see a direction Tony Scott€™s career might have gone if Simpson and Bruckheimer didn€™t come knocking. The film is technically Scott€™s second feature (after Loving Memory, 1971) and stars Catherine Deneuve, Susan Sarandon and David Bowie. It deals with immortality through vampirism and although a flop at the box office has since found a cult following on VHS and DVD. The film didn€™t go down that well with the critics either, but it€™s worth seeking out for the opening sequence alone. To describe it would sound crazy, but lets give it a go. The look of the scene is ahead of its time, like a grimier, less family-friendly version of The Lost Boys or Near Dark, both released in 1987. As Bauhaus perform €œBela Lugosi€™s Dead€ in front of a neon blue-lit cage the picture cuts to a dim, smoke-filled club scene with David Bowie€™s face appearing mysteriously behind John Lennon-style sunglasses. As Scott cuts to exterior shots the music cuts too, only to be returned to Bauhaus, then to exterior and so on. As a girl dances provocatively in front of a white screen the atmosphere changes, becoming sinister. Cigarettes are smoked, sunglasses removed and breasts revealed, then€baboons roar as blood spatters, confusion reigns. To anyone unfamiliar with the film, that might just sound silly. Anyone familiar with the film will know that€™s exactly what happens and its great. It€™s filthy, fetishistic, camp, androgynous and violent all at once. It represents a young Tony Scott working without restriction. The remainder of the film doesn€™t live up to its early promise but for this opening concoction of a scene he should be applauded.
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David is a film critic, writer and blogger for WhatCulture and a few other sites including his own, www.yakfilm.com Follow him on twitter @yakfilm