Customer Reviews

The Funeral / The Addiction [Region 2]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I really enjoyed this movie. It's set in a very intellectual environment, with a dark side. When the main character becomes bitten by a vampire she gets pulled into the life of a vampire, a very addicted one. She's addicted to the life-style of a vampire but hates it. The movie is about her struggle with her sinfull life-style.
It's not a movie comparing vampirism to aids and drugs so much, but rather to human sin nature. Sin nature as presented in the movie though, is as addictive as drugs and contagious and incurable as aids. The movie did an excellent job of displaying the nature of sin to the audience. Notice first that the sin had to be chosen, victims were never forced. After they chose sin, they became addicted and couldn't, by their own means, be released from their addicted lifestyle. In this movie, it's not until you are saved can you finally find release from sin. Her nature had to be changed, not her environment, not her psyche. I think the theme of the movie is embodied in the quote from R.C. Sproul(A famous calvinist minister and speaker) at the end of the film, "We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners." It was a movie about human nature, and the anatomy of sin the Biblical idea of sin (intended or not). Vampire stories in general are a study of sin. Concider their hate for all things Christian, the love of death and destruction, their opposite lifestyle(sleeping upside down, night dwellers ect) So I found this movie a great one to add to the list of vampire movies that I love!
I highly recomend this movie. You'll have a lot of fun examining it and picking out the details that hold the secrets to the overall meaning of the film. Very philosophical!

"One aspect of determinism is manifested in the fact that the unsaved don't recognize the sin in their lives; they're unconscious of it. They don't suffer pangs of conscience because they don't recognize evil exists. This is because they're all predestined to Hell and therefore never brought to the Light of metanoia{conversion}...so when considering the salvatory aspects of facing guilt, suffering is a good thing. We should all hope to feel guilty, to feel pain, so we can seek pardon and ultimately freedom. Guilt is a sign that god is working out your destiny, and it's a foolish person who refuses to acknowledge this."

The above quote is taken from the film, and is given by Kathleen's[Lili Taylor]philosophy professor, alluding to the thematic framework for Abel Ferrara's powerful and allegoric tale of redemption vis-a-vis existentialism meets vampirism ...similar to how Jim Jarmusch incorporated existentialism and mysticism into the western genre with his brilliant "Dead Man"[also filmed in black and white.]

"The Addiction" is quite unique, not your average horror movie. Don't be fooled by the ridiculous looking video box cover{no DVD available}. I'd seen it many years ago and stumbled on it again as IFC aired it late Halloween night. It's stark, grim, futile, very 'human'...the story need be in order to propell Kathleen toward the possibility of salvation. As most people aren't inclined to examine the metaphysical and philosophic elements of existence, the film may be substantively lost on many viewers who won't be bothered with a movie that requires thinking and feeling outside of the usual pedestrian horror movie cliches. The focus here is soul sickness, redemption and Christian iconography, much like Ferrara's wrenching "Bad Lieutenant."

Taylor gives a pained performance as an ordinary college student coming to terms with the vast array of evil deeds carried out by mankind. This is framed within her academic studies{philosophy, examining war atrocities}, but when she is violently attacked{yet chosen/accepted}while walking home one night, reality forces her from detached, speculative positions on evil into the burdensome gravity of facing that which is a very real aspect of humanity. You fear for her yet are fearful of her, and the nature of her addiction remains elusive.

In one scene, Kathleen seduces a fellow student in a library, coaxes her back to her apartment in order to feed. The distraught girl stands sobbing in front of the bathroom mirror, applying a bandage to her neck as Kathleen coldly sizes her up.

Her victim pleads "don't you care what you did to me! doesn't it affect you?" She replies, "Why didn't you tell me to leave, to get lost like you really meant it? My indifference is not the concern here; it's your astonishment that needs studying."

In another scene, Kathleen, checking herself over in the mirror before going out, thinks to herself, "is it wrong for me to draw blood? No. It's the violence of my will over theirs."

There's similar dialogue throughout, examining attitudes of moral ambivalence and apathy toward evil, even our species' desire for it. At the story's conclusion, Kathleen, now hospitalized after a heinous binge feeding, is confronted by the woman who initially attacked her, or, who she oddly submitted to. She symbolizes a quasi devil-on-your-shoulder attempting to justify evil, moral indifference and will to power just before the pastor arrives to give Kathleen her "last rites."

"Nobody can fall so low unless he has a great depth. If such a thing can happen to a man, it challanges his best and highest on the other side; that is to say, this depth corresponds to a potential height, the blackest darkness to a hidden light." ~ C.G.Jung

Given the realistic griminess and overall bluntness of the film, it concludes with a rather lyrical and moving scene of redemption and salvation, haunted by Kathleen's voice-over ..."To face what we are in the end, we stand before the Light, and our true nature is revealed; self-revelation is annihilation of self."

The Addiction is an artsy vampire movie that strays from what most movie goers see in vampire films. It is shot entirely in black and white-which adds to the dark setting. Vampirism is portrayed in much the same way as drug addiction here.

Lili Taylor turns in an excellent performance as Kathleen, a philosophy student who is plunged into the dark world of the vampire. As she is transformed gradually in the movie the fact that she is a philosophy student plays a large role. She is forced to reconcile her new life with the existentialism that is the focus of her studies. As she becomes more sure of herself in her new life, an elder vampire Peina (played by the creepy Christopher Walken) throws a wrench in the works. Lili Taylor's voice is marvelous in the dark settings where her character contemplates her new existence with philosophy. Where will her journey into darkness take her...?

This movie is well written, visually appealing, and the main charcters are deep. You will want to watch it more than once to be sure.

i think that this was an excellent if sometimes confusing movie. i loved the sensuality of it, even as it was showing the dangers of excess on any level... it showed her decency at first quickly becoming overpowered by her eventual need for sustenance. and then christopher walken <sexy as ever> shows up and casts a new perspective into the scene. all-in-all, it was an excellent movie, and i loved the simplicity of it all, without the complicated plot lines and over-description and tangling that other movies seem to have lately. it was an intriguing and attention keeping movie.

This film was delicious! A joy to watch. Lili Taylor has proven once again that she can do anything. I loved the letterbox format in black and white. It adds an air of class and a certain mystique. Very well done!

This vampire movie is possibly the most modern of its kind. It has Taylor as a university student who is vamped in a back alley. Soon after she finds that sunglight is an issue and she's drawing blood from tramps. What makes it so modern is the fact that vampirism is used as a metaphor for both AIDS and drugs, with the 'disease' being passed from one person to another. Later on there are scenes of Taylor injecting herself with a 'fix' of blood. The Addiction takes the vampire movie out of Anne Rice territory and places it as a horrific urban myth.

Taylor really is superb in just about every role she plays, but here she's the leading part. This is particularly rare for an actress best known for her supporting roles. Strangely enough, the big name Annabella Sciorra has a relatively small part, although she does have a dominating presence for the scenes she is in.

Alongside its vampirism though are questions about the soul and redemption. Perhaps the most intriguing idea that the movie has is that guilt is eternal and that people are drawn to sin because they are doomed already. It is a rare movie of this genre that has a few ideas in its head, and also a rare one that is virtually incomparable to others of its type. Obviously it won't be to everyone's taste, but its use of haunting imagery and different perspective on the vampire genre should be applauded.

Strange low-budget Abel Ferrera film is much too pretentious, arty and slow moving to enjoy as horror film, but at times is a fascinating film which melds drug addiction and vampirism. It's not always sure what it wants to say or where it's going and in the end seems pointless (though there's a muddled message about spirituality in here).

It combines some ruminations on the philosophy of Kirkegarrd, Nietzsche, Sartre and shows us a woman struggling against personal convictions, desires and addictions. When attempts are made to link all of this to things like the Holocaust, and the My Lai massacre it lost me, but it's an ambitious and at times interesting film shot in black and white. It is slow going though. Don't be fooled by the cast which includes Christopher Walken(a cameo), Lili Taylor and Annabella Sciorra and the presence of Ferrera into thinking there's some camp value in the film-it's a low budget serious arty film with very little humor.

Chris Jarmick, Author of The Glass Cocoon with Serena F. Holder...

I found this movie fascinating and watched it a number of times. Whatever it may be, it certainly isn't a classic vampire film, let alone a cheap exploitation flick along the lines of "Vampiric Lesbians from Outer Space" (I made that title up).

Vampirism in the movie is presented as more a disease than something supernatural. There really aren't any special effects, except for an intimation that the anti-heroine (Taylor) has superhuman strength. Except for one prolonged scene where a party literally turns into a "feast for the damned," it isn't even particularly violent (the black and white tends to mute that).

Lily Taylor is a very interesting actress with a true penchant doing odd roles. She isn't a classic beauty, but she is attractive, and the character she plays has a sort of dark charisma that I found pretty fascinating. About the only other depiction of a female vampire that I liked as much if not better was Julie Carmen in "Fright Night II" (but that's a radically different flick). Taylor's vampire was compelling enough that I wonder whether I would tell her "to just go away" (something that apparently drives away vampires in this film's universe).

One knock against the film I suppose is a rather cryptic ending. I won't spoil it, but suffice to say, I was left wondering what exactly happened to the character of Kathleen at the end. Also, I think Christopher Walken was underused in the film. He's a great actor, and I would have liked to have seen more of him in it.

One last thing...someone else tagged the movie with "lesbian vampire." I don't think that really is valid. Yes, the character of Kathleen attacks several women, but she also attacks men. One gets the impression that such a vampire feeds on whoever might cross her path.

Abel Ferrara's foray into the arena of vampire movies stars Lili Taylor as an NYU graduate student of philosophy named Kathleen Conklin. Ferrara's usual suspects crowd the film - Edie Falco plays another grad student, Annabella Sciorra plays a mysterious vampire woman, and Christopher Walken is on hand for a typically skin-crawling cameo. This moody black & white movie makes no secret of the fact that it is largely a parable of heroin addiction. "The Addiction" is replete with ideas, but most of them are fairly murky. Some of the themes include the idea of intellectualism as vampirism, predation as ethical relativism, the existentialism of modern life, the nature of evil, and the culpability of all humans in evil acts such as the My Lai massacre and the Holocaust. Paradoxically, "The Addiction" is an indictment of intellectualism, but it seems to beg for a doctoral level of analysis. Probably the most fully realized aspect of this slow-moving film is its depiction of city life as a decaying and fetid unlife. All in all, a muddled but very watchable picture.

This was one really great flick. Hard to find in video stores too. Love the idea that vampires can be existential. Great cinematography.