The Addiction is anything but perfect but still a unique take on the vampire subgenre with a terrific performance by Lili Taylor as well as Christopher Walken in his small part.
The Addiction
(1995)
Genre(s): Horror, Fantasy, Drama
Arrow Video | NR – 82 min. – $39.95 | June 26, 2018
Date Published: 07/04/2018 | Author: The Movieman
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Arrow Video provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.25/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: 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 realizes this isn’t any ordinary disease when she develops an aversion to daylight and a thirst for human blood. Quick Hit Review: The Addiction was one of many vampire movies to come out of the 1990s (Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie and TV series, Interview with the Vampire, From Dusk Till Dawn to name a few) and although this film does meander and gets too philosophical, and yet that is also what makes it stand out from the rest. The film also features a wonderful performance by Lili Taylor and, although he’s only in it for less than 10-minutes, Christopher Walken (despite being second billed). Still a fascinating flick, flaws and all. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.0/5 |
| This release comes with a 32-page booklet with an essay, production stills and information about the transfer.
Features wise, there is a fair amount including an Audio Commentary with Director Abel Ferrara, moderated by critic/biographer Brad Stevens and this is a pretty academic track full of anecdotal information; Talking with the Vampires (30:55; HD) is a featurette made by Ferrara for this release and includes new interviews with Actors Lili Taylor and Christopher Walken, Composer Joe Delia, Cinematographer Ken Kelsch as well as Ferrara; a new Interview (16:19; HD) with Ferrara; New Appreciation (8:47; HD) featurette from the aforementioned Brad Stevens; Abel Ferrara Edits The Addiction (8:43; HD) is an archival featurette from 1994/1995; the Original Theatrical Trailer (0:36; HD); and a Gallery. |
VIDEO – 4.0/5, AUDIO – 3.5/5 |
| Arrow Video releases The Addiction onto Blu-ray presented with a 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and given a restored 1080p high-definition transfer, culled from the original 35mm camera negative and scanned in 4K 16-bit resolution. Courtesy of the clean-up, thousands of instances of dust, dirt, scratches and other film wear were repaired or removed and this black and white presentation does indeed look excellent; black levels were stark while the whites were bright.
The movie comes with both a PCM 2.0 and DTS-HD MA 5.1 track, either option perfectly fine since most of the movie is dialogue or some choice rap music. The latter of course is spread across all the tracks so shows off a bit more depth. The only downside, and this is likely due to the original sound design, dialogue was a bit too low at times. |
OVERALL – 3.5/5 |
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Overall, The Addiction is anything but perfect but still a unique take on the vampire subgenre with a terrific performance by Lili Taylor as well as Christopher Walken in his small part. The Blu-ray release by Arrow Video offers up good video and audio transfers and a fine selection of bonus features. |