THE HUNGER (TONY SCOTT)

year: 1983 cast: Catherline Deneuve, Susan Sarandon rating: ***1/2

With quick editing and plenty of steamy close-ups, Tony Scott's movies often felt like music videos – yet this, unlike several of his other (more commercial) projects, is a really good video.

Centering on Catherine Deneuve’s Miriam Blaylock, a gorgeous vampire holed up in a dark mansion with her husband of two thousand years, John, played with a subtle intensity by musician David Bowie, whom she promised “eternal life," a gift with a price.

After enough time, her lover’s begin aging rapidly: in the course of twenty-four they’re coffin-bound, for keeps. Thus is John's dilemna, who tries seeking help from scientist Sarah Roberts, bent on curing the fatal disease where teenagers can die of old age. But Miriam has her own sites on Sarah, who, played by Susan Sarandon, provides a vampire’s love interest you don't see in many films, especially from the eighties.

The bedroom scenes between Deneuve and Sarandon are replete with lustful passion, but it never feels like your typical male fantasy. Miriam knows exactly what she wants – and sets out to get it. While Tony Scott, in his first theatrical outing, seems comfortable in this Gothic world of murky shadows and edgy prowess, an atmosphere reminiscent of brother Ridley’s neo noir BLADE RUNNER…

Each character, even the immortal ones, has a desperate, doomed quality. You’ll feel that anything can happen at any time – as it often does. So if you’re looking for a cliche horror flick, this won’t do. But for an edgy vampire melodrama, THE HUNGER is quite appetizing.

A young Willem Defoe provides a cameo as a street punk

Beth Ehlers plays Alice Cavender, the couple's street savvy music student

Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon provide vampy passion in THE HUNGER

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