DVD Review: Take a Bite Out of ‘The Hunger: The Complete First Season’

CHICAGO – “The Hunger” is one of the more unusual entries in the history of the TV anthology series, a personal favorite sub-genre of this writer raised on “The Twilight Zone,” “The Outer Limits,” “Tales From the Crypt,” and “Amazing Stories”. It has amazing star power, a loose relation to a great ’80s horror movie, and enough thrills to entertain, but has been largely forgotten by TV history.

DVD Rating: 3.0/5.0

“The Hunger” aired in syndicated form from 1997-2000. It is not directly based on the film of the same name but does feature some loose relations - horror theme, David Bowie hosted season two, and the Scott brothers (Ridley and Tony, who directed the film “The Hunger”) produced.

The Hunger: The Complete First Season was released on DVD on June 16th, 2009.
Photo credit: E1 Entertainment

The first season of the show was hosted by Terence Stamp and, while it has some significant storytelling flaws, the pedigree of the cast and crew is remarkable. The first episode was directed by Tony Scott himself and stars Balthazar Getty and the second episode features Daniel Craig, Lena Headey, and Karen Black.

Other directors and stars in season one include Russell Mulcahy (“Highlander”), Jason Scott Lee, Sally Kirkland, Colin Ferguson, Marie-Josee Croze, Margot Kidder, Brooke Smith, Giancarlo Esposito, Bruce Davison, Stephen McHattie, Joanna Cassidy, and Sofia Shinas. It’s a pretty A-list crew for a B- or even C-list show.

The problem with “The Hunger” is that for every stand-out episode, there are three or four that just don’t work for a variety of reasons - poor direction, low-level production values, bad storytelling. One of the biggest problems is that “The Hunger” feels too often constrained by network standards. This is a show that always wants to push the envelope with horror and soft-core erotica, but it’s a 22-minute broadcast standard program that feels like a truncated or censored version of something that originally aired on Showtime. Or at least wished it had.

I’m a huge fan of anthology series, so I had to include “The Hunger” in my collection, but I think only those of you with a similar predilection for the sub-genre should take a look. Not only is the series so-so, but the release by E1 Entertainment is not exactly a grabber (the excellent cover art excepted).

The episodes look merely average in their original full-frame ratio and the dolby digital stereo track falls just below that average line. And there are no season-specific special features with the only bonus being a look at season two.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com