The Addiction (1995)
1h 22m | PG-13
A vampiric doctoral student tries to follow the philosophy of a nocturnal comrade and control her thirst for blood.
Director: Abel Ferrara
Studio: Fast Films
Genre: Drama, Horror
Video: 720p
Cast
Lili Taylor
as Kathleen Conklin
Christopher Walken
as Peina
Annabella Sciorra
as Casanova
Edie Falco
as Jean
Paul Calderon
as Professor
Fredro Starr
as Black
Reviews
Even for an arthouse vampire film, it's pretentious, and that's quite an achievement. Existentialism abounds but substance (no pun intended) does not. Good for audio sampling though. _Final rating:★★½ - Not quite for me, but I definitely get the appeal._
The Addiction is one of the more thoughtful films about vampirism available today. While the film is incredibly thoughtful, with loads of subtext at every corner, it borders, and sometimes crosses into, pretention. There are times where the narration is attempting to add subtext, but it's so heavy-handed that the film loses sight of the fact it's a horror film. I'd argue it's thought piece first and horror film second, honestly. Maybe that makes it even more frightening. Christopher Walken is wonderful, and Lili Taylor does a fine job, as well. The choice to shoot the film in black and white was a great idea, as well. There's a real focus placed on the ideas the film is pursuing. Even though the subject of the horror in this film are vampires, the movie is truly describing humanity.