Throwback Thursday: It’s Almost Spooky Szn– Let’s Watch An Erotic Vampire Classic!

Don’t say “bite me” too loudly around this hot couple…

Hey Fleshbot fans! If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that every October, Throwback Thursday turns into the land of spooky smutty fun. I thought I would give you all a little preview of things to come by throwing it all the way back to 1983 with a look back at The Hunger, a mainstream erotic horror film based on the novel by Whitley Strieber and directed by Tony Scott.

We open on Miriam Blaylock, an ancient vampire played by Catherine Deneuve, and her current vampire companion, whom she sired, a cellist called John, played by the late great David Bowie. They live in New York City, and their story is that they are a couple who teach private classical music lessons. It’s just another night in the vamp life (these vamps apparently can tolerate some daylight, but not a lot) as they reel in a gorgeous goth couple from a nightclub and promptly devour them, using small ankh necklaces (ironically, a symbol of life) to open them up and then drain them like a Capri Sun with their fangs.

Miriam is ancient, but John is comparatively young by vamp standards at only 200 years old. Much to his alarm, he begins to age rapidly with symptoms not unlike progeria, a rare but devastating real-world disease. Turns out eternal life was given to him when he was turned, but not eternal youth. Gotta read that fine print. Yikes. John is determined to stop his aging, so he seeks out Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon), who is researching aging in primates, to see if he can find a solution.

This is where it all starts to unravel. John feeds on their music student Alice out of desperation, which alerts the police that something might be hinky with these people. Miriam has no choice but to stick poor John in a coffin in a living-death sort of state, like her previous consorts. Miriam now turns her affections and aspirations to Sarah, and I won’t spoil the rest for you, but it gets quite sapphic up in here, for one thing…....

Be sure to grab some red wine, clove cigarettes, and turn off the lights and light some candles to make the best atmosphere to enjoy this film. If you want to make a marathon of it, Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) with Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton is a perfect companion piece, not as horny, but definitely atmospheric and vampire-tastic. Both are very adult and very aesthetic vampire films. No one is sparkling here, and there isn’t a cute quippy blonde with a pointy wooden stick, either.

The Hunger and Only Lovers Left Alive are both available for free streaming (at press time) on Tubi.