Do I recommend The Addiction? Yes, but with trepidation. Or at least with qualifications. If ever there were a movie where you'd say it's not for everyone, this is it.
It's a vampire movie centered on a philosophy grad student (Lili Taylor, demonstrating why she should have been huge and probably never will be.) So a certain amount of making subtext text is to be expected. Your mileage may vary on it.
It's got a very interesting look. Shot entirely in black and white, it's also in a narrower aspect ratio than most movies made after the fifties. But it doesn't look like an old Universal or Val Lewton horror movie. The camera takes everything in with the detachment of a Warhol screen test.
An unusual casting tidbit: The guru vampire Peina was written as a woman, but when Christopher Walken read the script he fixated on that role and Abel Ferrara agreed to cast him. Balancing the gender switch, Annabella Sciorra wound up playing the part Walken was supposed to get. She makes an impression, and not just with her teeth.
2 comments:
When we first moved to Portland I read Ann Rice's Vampire novels. Did you ever come across them and, if so, do you think this compares at all? I don't mean the plot so much as the overall dark and offbeat atmosphere.
In spite of us being Christopher Walken fans (as someone said, he owned movies in the 90s) The Addiction never made it to our attention. If you say it's worthwhile we'll definitely watch it after we finish the rather strange new netflix series Maniac.
Hmm. While I find Rice funny and intelligent in interviews, I tend not to have a lot of patience for her fiction. You probably could draw a connection though, with her depiction of philosophical vampires and this one.
Walken almost always elevates the movies that he's in, even when he only shows up briefly. In this movie he basically has one scene, although it's a long scene. Maniac looks interesting, although I have a hard time pinning down what it's supposed to be about. Does have a good cast.
Post a Comment