Sometimes it does feel like we are living in a simulation. I schedule screeners based on the order I receive them and it just so happens that this past weekend, the first two films watched have both perfectly reflected my current mood. The Addiction is a black and white vampire movie from 1995 that was directed by Abel Ferrara (The Driller Killer), and which takes a more grounded and realistic approach to the topic of vampires, while displaying the need to feast on human blood as an unhealthy addiction that must be confronted.
One night while walking home from a lecture in New York, philosophy student Kathleen Conklin (Lili Taylor - The Nun, The Conjuring) is grabbed by a strange woman and dragged into an alleyway. The woman then precedes to suck blood from Kathleen's neck before saying some cryptic words and leaving. While the hospital say there is nothing wrong with the woman after the attack, she begins to feel very strange and comes to realise she has a thirst for blood that cannot be sated. Using her philosophy studies as a basis, she tries to reconcile what she has become, questioning if someone who does evil acts is bad, or if it is an inherent badness that causes a person to do bad things.
Truth be told, I don't understand philosophy, I found much of The Addiction to feel quite pretentious. It is a pretentious that is neatly wrapped up within the confines of the movie, with many of the characters seemingly happy to engage in musings on life. Included among the large cast is legendary actor Christopher Walken (Batman Returns, A View to a Kill), who despite only featuring in the movie for around ten minutes of this eighty two minute film, completely stole his scenes as a fellow vampire who has learned to control his urges. The meat of the film is Kathleen really trying to work out the type of person she has become, and battling her addiction with little success. You might expect a large body count as a result of all her feasting, but whether she didn't know how, or didn't wish to, she ends up turning everyone whose blood she sucks, culminating in a fun and unexpected later scene set at a dinner party.
There are no outward signs that people within the film world are vampires, they don't have fangs, they do have super strength, while their weaknesses are stripped back and made less deadly. Kathleen does have a reflection, but chooses to cover up her mirrors due to not liking what she sees in them, sunlight doesn't kill, but she still has an aversion to it, while religious figures seem immune to the subtle hypnosis that she is able to cast on potential victims. I liked how grounded this felt compared to a lot of vampire films, with the need for blood reflected as an addiction akin to alcoholism and drug abuse. Battling an unhealthy addiction myself for much of my life, I liked seeing this portrayal on screen.
The Addiction was a strong drama that downplays much of the supernatural aspect. The black and white was a perfect choice, with the use of light and shadow in particular being impressive. The location of the streets of New York created a retro feel that felt older than even the 90's setting. The reason for this review was that there has been a new 4K restoration of The Addiction from the original camera negative by Arrow Video. This restoration is currently available to watch on ARROW, the streaming subscription service.
SCORE:
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