The Addiction (1995)

The Addiction (1995) (DVD) (*)

$21.99

Screened, competed or awarded at:
Berlin International Film Festival
Malaga Spanish Film Festival
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )
French ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
France ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
79 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Commentary
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)
Black & White
Remastered

Movie filmed in 1995 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Abel Ferrara

Written By:
Nicholas St. John

Actors:
Lili Taylor ..... Kathleen Conklin
Christopher Walken ..... Peina
Annabella Sciorra ..... Casanova
Edie Falco ..... Jean
Paul Calderon ..... Professor
Fredro Starr ..... Black
Kathryn Erbe ..... Anthropology Student
Michael Imperioli ..... Missionary
Jamal Simmons ..... Black's Friend (as Jamel 'Redrum' Simmons)
Michael A. Fella ..... Cop
Louis Katz ..... Doctor (as Louis A. Katz)
Leroy Johnson ..... Homeless Victim #1
Fred Williams ..... Homeless Victim #2
Avron Coleman ..... Cellist

Synopsis:

Director Abel Ferrara applies his eccentric vision to the vampire genre with this cerebral 'Art' film about graduate philosophy student Kathleen Conklin (Lili Taylor), who is bitten by an aggressive female vampire (Annabella Sciorra) and soon spirals into a nightmarish world of blood addiction and existential angst. Driven by her merciless condition, she attacks several of her pretentious friends and classmates (even her professor) and mainlines their blood like heroin. Just as she becomes more bold in seeking prey on the streets of New York, she is waylaid by a potential victim -- actually a sophisticated vampire himself named Peina (Christopher Walken), who chooses to control his own blood addiction through fasting and meditation. Seeming to regain her self-control, she eventually completes her graduate thesis (helped by a bit of vampire nepotism) and holds a party to celebrate, inviting the entire faculty as well as members of her new 'family' to join in the festivities. Although the parallels to heroin addiction are in plain view, this is also a study in the essential evil of humankind -- a theme evident in much of Ferrara's work.

The dark is their sunlight. What makes them different is what keeps them alive. One of the most original vampire movies ever made, Abel Ferrara's The Addiction challenges his audience to face up to their endless fascination with evil and violence, shot seductively in black and white. Kathleen, brilliantly portrayed by Lili Taylor, is an NYU philosophy student whose life is brutally changed forever when a bite to her neck awakens a thirst for blood. Spiralling into a world of addiction and existential angst it is only when she meets a sophisticated vampire named Peina (Christopher Walken) that she can begin to control her urges.

Kathleen Conklin was just a normal student attending college. While walking home one night she is dragged off the street and bitten by a strange woman. Soon Kathleen goes from being a normal student to being a vampire. Kathleen's need for blood is similar to a drug addict's need for drugs, and we watch as she goes from one fix to the next.

This product was added to our catalog on Sunday 14 November, 2021.