The Addiction

This 1995 horror film from maverick filmmaker Abel Ferrara stars Lili Taylor as Kathleen, a dour philosophy graduate student at NYU whose life is transformed after she's bitten by the darkly sexy vampire Casanova (Annabella Sciorra). Suddenly gripped with a thirst for human blood, Kathleen goes looking for her fix in the Greenwich Village nightlife, wearing dark glasses, goth fashions, and a bad attitude, as her existential angst turns into philosophical proclamations. Christopher Walken has one memorable scene as a veteran creature of the night who offers her advice on surviving the human world by restraining her bloodlust and Edie Falco and Ferrara regulars Paul Calderon and Michael Imperioli costar. Written by Ferrara's longtime collaborator Nicholas St. John, this is a modern urban take on the vampire thriller that is both archly pretentious and cinematically gorgeous. Shot in stark black and white in New York City, the cinematography is shadowy and suggestive, with poetic images and inky beauty, while its portrait of grad school intellectualism borders on parody with moments of wicked and witty dark humor. Ferrara has made a career out of mixing art house style with exploitation subjects in such films as Ms. 45 and Body Snatchers. The Addiction is not as well-known and may be too precious for many, but it does deliver visceral thrills between philosophical debates on the nature of evil. Remastered from a new 4K restoration, extras here include audio commentary by Ferrara moderated by critic and biographer Brad Stevens, a new appreciation by Stevens, an interview with the director, a new retrospective featurette, and archival footage of Ferrara editing the film. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)