The Hunger: The Complete First Season DVD Review
The Hunger: The Complete First Season DVD Review
Mostly satisfying.
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If anything, you won't be sex-starved by The Hunger: The Complete First Season. Each episode of this unrated cable series contains the obligatory soft-core grappling, ala The Red Shoe Diaries or Secret Diaries of a Call Girl. (I don't add Californication, because that series, also each with a sex scene, is in a kinky class all by itself and it's not an anthology.)
The Hunger, in case you missed it or never heard of it, was meant to be a spinoff from Tony Scott's seductive, stylish and sensual 1983 vampire feature starring Susan Sarandon, Catherine Deneuve, and David Bowie. While the series does take some of the film's themes — restless dissatisfaction, the search for newer, better, bigger thrills, a supernatural bent — it's really not recognizable as such. Similar to Tales From The Crypt, or even Masters of Horror, The Hunger should appeal to fans of erotic horror who like their scares bite-sized.
The first season, hosted by a slinky, sinuous and sometimes silly Terrence Stamp, was on DVD before but has since been discontinued. Here's your second chance at lust, if you want it. Mired by its era (a time when Gothic angst and Anne Rice were the epitome of cool… oh, wait. Isn't a little movie called Twilight kind of a hit right now?), the show comes off taking itself just a little too seriously. But overall, it's quite bewitching thanks to its aggressive, excessive, in your face style: too-beautiful actresses with natural endowments luxuriate in fine fabrics and rich textures in their candlelit bedrooms or beneath dark, beckoning starlit skies. Also, it's not just about vampires: All manner of succubi come out to play.
Directors include the Scotts, Russell Mulcahy, and Erik Canuel, while stories are drawn from the likes F. Paul Wilson, Graham Masterton, and Harlan Ellison (using a nom de plume in Season Two).
DISC ONE:
The launch episode, directed by Tony Scott, is entitled "The Swords" and stars Balthazar Getty as a young man obsessed by an exotic fetishist magician's assistant, Musidora (Amanda Ryan). The brave beauty can withstand any kind of penetration… almost. The second story, "Menage a Trois" directed by Jake Scott, features the legendary, sultry Karen Black as a medical misfit who, though an invalid, makes sex-marionettes of (then-unknown) Lena Headey and Daniel Craig in order to fulfill her unnatural needs. Episode three, helmed by Russell Mulcahy, is called "Necros", is set in New Orleans, and stars Philip Casnoff, Céline Bonnier, Leonardo Cimino playing out a strange game of Bridge.
Also:
"The Secret Shih-Tan" Director - Russell Mulcahy Stars - Jason Scott Lee, Robert Ito. A master chef discovers some appetites should not be satisfied.
"Bridal Suite" Director - Erik Canuel Stars - Sally Kirkland, Karen Elkin, Colin Ferguson. A bride learns the value of fidelity.
"Room 17" Director - Erik Canuel Stars - Curtis Armstrong. A traveling salesman falls prey to someone who's a better con than himself.
DISC TWO:
"Anais" Director - Darrell Wasyk Stars - Ilona Elkin, Nick Mancuso. An artist's sexy drawing comes to life.
"No Radio" Director - Howard Rodman Stars - Bruce Ramsay, Amanda de Cadenet, James Rae. Sexual role playing turns deadly.
"But at My Back I Always Hear" Director - Patricia Rozema Stars - Cary Lawrence, Michael Gross, Karen Elkin. A student is hot (and crazy) for teacher.
"Red Light" Director - Christian Duguay Stars - Tomas Arana, Liliana Kamorowska. Photographer and model explore soul-stealing snapshots.
"I'm Dangerous Tonight" Director - Russell Mulcahy Stars - Marie-Josée Croze, Dorothée Berryman, Esai Morales. A red dress woven with cursed thread.
"The Sloan Men" Director - Darrell Wasyk Stars - Clare Sims, Gregory Calpakis, Margot Kidder. A bride-to-be discovers secrets about her groom's family.
DISC THREE:
"A Matter of Style" Director - John Hamilton Stars - Daniel Brochu, Chad Lowe, Isabelle Cyr. Female vampire finds a young protégé.
"Hidebound" Director - Jeff Fazio Stars - Brooke Smith, Paul Hopkins. A security guard learns just how unsecure she, herself, really is.
"Fly-By-Night" Director - Yermo Mishot Stars - Giancarlo Esposito, Kim Feeney. Vampires in the hospital.
"The River of Night's Dreaming" Director - John Warwicker Stars - Marni Thompson, Ann Terkel. An escaped convict finds refuge in a spooky old house.
"The Lighthouse" Director - Darrell Wasyk Stars - Bruce Davison. A lonely lighthouse keeper finds romance with an apparition.
"The Face of Helen Bournouw" Director - Richard Ciupka Stars - Stephen McHattie, Jayne Heitmeyer. When three celebs obsess over the same woman, a reporter uncovers the ugly truth.
DISC FOUR:
"Plain Brown Envelope" Director - Michel David Stars - Jesse Borrego, Doris Milmore, Stephan Cloutier. Trucker and hitchhiker meet, mate, and massacre.
"The Other Woman" Director - George Mihalka Stars - Joanna Cassidy, Nicholas Campbell, Lisa Bronwyn Moore. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
"Clarimonde" Director - Tom Dey Stars - David La Haye, Audrey Benoit. A 19th century priest finds his resolve tested by visions of beauty.
"Footsteps" Director - Jimmy Kaufman Stars - Jean-Guy Bouchard, Sofia Shinas. A hungry woman travels the globe in search of the ideal man-meal.
Vintage featurette: The Hunger Inside, introduced by Season Two host David Bowie and features interviews with Tony and Ridley Scott, as well as actor Giovanni Ribisi, who did an episode in Season Two (weird featurette to include for a Season One DVD, but whatever! Bowie sightings are always welcome.)
The DVD is presented in fullscreen, and does not offer captions for the hearing-impaired.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson