This film is currently unavailable
The Addiction
Lili Taylor and Christopher Walken star in Abel Ferrara's raw, intense and intelligent take on the vampire myth - selected for the Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time Poll by The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw.
Director: Abel Ferrara
Overview
Philosophy student Kathleen (Lili Taylor) is dragged into an alleyway on her way home from class by Casanova (Annabella Sciorra) and bitten on the neck. She quickly falls ill but realises this isn’t any ordinary disease when she develops an aversion to daylight and a thirst for human blood…
The mid-nineties were a fertile period for the vampire movie. Big-name stars such as Tom Cruise and Eddie Murphy flocked to genre, as did high-calibre filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola, veterans Wes Craven and John Landis, independents Michael Almereyda and Jeffrey Arsenault, and up-and-comers Quentin Tarantino and Guillermo del Toro. Amid the fangs and crucifixes, Abel Ferrara reunited with his King of New York star Christopher Walken for The Addiction, a distinctly personal take on creatures of the night. Having made a big-budget foray into science fiction two years earlier with Body Snatchers, Ferrara’s approach to the vampire movie is in a lower key. Shot on the streets of New York, like so many of his major works – including The Driller Killer, Ms. 45 and Bad Lieutenant - and beautifully filmed in black and white, The Addiction sees the filmmaker on his own terms and at his very best: raw, shocking, intense, intelligent, masterful.
Contains strong bloody horrorRelated
Red Rooms Red Rooms
Drama 2023 118 mins Director: Pascal Plante
The allure of the serial killer is explored in this deeply unsettling and unforgettable exploration of the impact of extreme violence.
Sleep Sleep
Horror 2023 94 mins Director: Jason Yu
A recently married couple find their lives turning upside down as a result of the husband’s nocturnal behaviour.
Starve Acre Starve Acre
Horror 2023 98 mins Director: Dan Kokotajlo
Dark and sinister forces invade a couple’s home in this wildly eerie British folk horror, with unflinching performances from Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark.
The Horrible Dr. Hichcock The Horrible Dr. Hichcock
Horror 1962 87 mins Director: Riccardo Freda
A widowed doctor has gruesome plans for his new wife in this lush, Hitchcockian Italian gothic horror.
Witchfinder General Witchfinder General
Horror 1968 87 mins Director: Michael Reeves
A witchfinder traverses 17th-century England executing those he suspects of witchcraft.
Street Trash Street Trash
Comedy 1987 101 mins Director: Jim Muro
A deadly liquor rips through a community of vagabonds living in the junkyards of Brooklyn, in this outlandish 80s body horror.
King of New York King of New York
Crime 1990 103 mins Director: Abel Ferrara
Christopher Walken is the dogged drug-lord determined to keep his empire together, in Abel Ferrara's brutally gritty crime thriller.
Fear City Fear City
Crime 1984 97 mins Director: Abel Ferrara
Tom Berenger, Melanie Griffith and Billy Dee Williams star in this tough crime thriller about a talent agent who takes the law into his own hands when his strippers are targeted by a serial killer.
Bad Lieutenant Bad Lieutenant
Crime 1992 96 mins Director: Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara's disturbing character study of a corrupt N.Y.C. cop and his slide into insanity, starring Harvey Keitel in a career-best performance.
King of New York King of New York
Crime 1990 103 mins Director: Abel Ferrara
Christopher Walken is the dogged drug-lord determined to keep his empire together, in Abel Ferrara's brutally gritty crime thriller.
Watership Down Watership Down
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1978 92 mins Director: Martin Rosen
An apocalyptic vision pushes a group of rabbits to abandon their warren in search of a new home, in this landmark British animation.
Tchaikovsky's Wife Tchaikovsky's Wife
Biopic 2022 144 mins Director: Kirill Serebrennikov
Award-winning director Kirill Serebrennikov (Petrov's Flu) charts the tumultuous relationship between the 19th-century composer and his wife, in this poignant and powerful biopic.
Nezouh Nezouh
Drama 2024 104 mins Director: Soudade Kaadan
Enchanting feminist coming-of-age drama, from award winning Syrian director Soudade Kaadan.
The Turin Horse The Turin Horse
Drama 2011 155 mins Director: Béla Tarr
Béla Tarr’s devastating, starkly pared-down final feature, inspired by Nietzsche.
Werckmeister Harmonies Werckmeister Harmonies
Drama 2000 147 mins Director: Béla Tarr
A stuffed whale sparks social apocalypse in this haunting cinematic masterpiece from Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky.
The Man from London The Man from London
Drama 2007 139 mins Director: Béla Tarr
Tilda Swinton stars in this profoundly nocturnal Georges Simenon adaptation.