The hunger videorecording Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer presents a Richard Shepherd Company production ; screenplay by Ivan Davis and Michael Thomas ; produced by Richard A. Shepherd ; directed by Tony Scott.

Originally released as a motion picture in 1983

Based on the novel by Whitley Strieber

Dual-layer format

Special features: commentary by Tony Scott and Susan Sarandon ; stills gallery ; theatrical trailer

The Hunger is a 1983 erotic horror film directed by Tony Scott, starring Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon. The film is a loose adaptation of the 1981 novel of the same name by Whitley Strieber. Miriam Blaylock is a vampire, seen in flashbacks drinking from victims in Ancient Egypt, promising specially chosen humans eternal life as her vampire lovers. Her current companion is John, a talented cellist whom she met in 18th-century France. In a nightclub in New York City, they connect with a young couple whom they bring home and feed upon by slashing their throats with bladed ankh pendants. The victims' bodies are disposed of in an incinerator in the basement of Miriam and John's elegant New York townhouse, where they pose as a wealthy couple who teach classical music.
Now, 200 years after he was turned, John begins suffering insomnia and ages years in only a few days. John realizes Miriam's promise, that periodically killing and feeding upon human victims would give him immortality, was only partially true; he will have eternal life, but not eternal youth. He seeks Dr. Sarah Roberts, a research gerontologist who, with her colleagues Charlie and Tom (also Sarah's boyfriend), are studying the effects of rapid aging in primates, hoping she can reverse his accelerating decrepitude. Sarah assumes that John is a hypochondriac or mentally unbalanced and ignores his pleas for help. As the angered John leaves the clinic, Sarah is horrified to see how rapidly he is aging and offers her help, but John rebuffs her.
One of the Blaylocks' students, Alice Cavender, drops by their townhouse to say that she cannot attend the next day's lesson. In a last attempt to regain his youth, John murders and feeds upon Alice, whom Miriam was grooming to be her next consort when she came of age. However, her blood does nothing to restore him, so John begs Miriam to kill him and release him from the agony of his decrepit body. Weeping, Miriam tells him there is no release. After John collapses in the basement, Miriam carries him into the attic, which is filled with coffins and places him in one. Like John, Miriam's former vampire lovers suffer an eternal living death, helplessly moaning and trapped in their coffins. Later, a police official comes to the residence, looking for the missing Alice. Miriam feigns ignorance and claims that her husband is in Switzerland.

Director of photography, Stephen Goldblatt ; editor, Pamela Power ; music, Michael Rubini, Denny Jaeger

David Bowie, Catherine Deneuve, Susan Sarandon, Cliff De Young, Dan Hedaya, Beth Ehlers

MPAA rating: R.

DVD, region 1, Dolby digital mono.

English and French (mono) language soundtracks with optional subtitles in English, French and Spanish; closed-captioned in English.