The Hunger

Scott Free produced this series based upon the Tony Scott movie 'The Hunger'.

The meaningless stories have talented directors like Russel Mulcahy or the Scott brothers. Unknown actors and actresses play among the soft-sex, soft-horror elements and the impressive production design.

So if you want sex, see something else. You like mystery? See the 'X-files'. Looking for crime? Stay tuned with 'Columbo'. But don't even waste your time on 'The Hunger'. Unless you want something called 'art'.

This is a Canadian/British anthology series of erotic tales about every conceivable hunger. Terence Stamp hosts the first season and David Bowie does the second.

I only have the first season although the Jennifer Beals episode from the second season is on the web. Stamp really camps it up. There is a bit of fun from that. There is an inverse relationship between the requirement for nudity and the ability of the actresses. The series starts off well with a memorable sword lady. The second episode has Lena Headey and Daniel Craig filming in Britain. After that, the show declines with a few exceptions. Often, it is the non-acting B-actresses who are willing to strip. The stories lack a certain drive. This is a cheaper series of the late 90s cable softcore era.

I wish I could rate this cheesy piece of crap so that I could let the world know how pathetic it is. This is not horror, it isn't even camp. It's a hodgepodge of cheesey dialogue, cheap horror props and lots of T&A. If you are looking for T&A with a campy horror edge, try The Bare Wench Horror instead.

I have seen most of the episodes from the two seasons of "The Hunger" the audacious project in sex and horror of the Scott brothers. Most of the 30 minutes episodes are based on well known horror stories from such terrific sources like Graham Masterton, David Schow, Poppy Brite, Karl Edward Wagner, Brian Lumley, Kim Newman (to name only a few), while directors are often very famous, like Russel Mulcahy or Tony Scott. First season was hosted by Terence Stamp, while the second by David Bowie. Most of the stories have a strong sexual element and almost all of them (especially in the second season) have one or more sex scenes, nudity and very often also graphic violence. Several of stories are really disturbing and among them there also a few masterpieces, like "Wrath of God", "Sin Seer" and "Week Woman" from season two, "Anais", "Necros" and "Bridal Suite" from season one. Apart from a few real turkeys, most of the stories are at least enjoyable for the horror fan and several of them are worth repeated viewings

"The Hunger" is a tour de force of passion and lust. Each tale, poetically introduced by Terrance Stamp in season one and David Bowie in season two, brings us into a world of unbridled, un-inhibited passion. The show preaches no self righteous moral, no great and uplifting message is hidden away and more often than not the ending is far from happy. "The Hunger" illustrates how lust is an essential part of our lives, that it need not be denied but is always dangerous.

Episodes range from the comedic ("Matter of Style"), to Gothic horror ("Necros") and to the perverse ("The Sloan Men"). Based on stores from such talents as horror maestro Graham Masterton ("Bridal Suite" etc…) and directed by a range of highly talented auteur. "The Hunger" is a master class in style from directorial legends and brothers Ridley and Tony Scott.