The Hunger: The Complete First Season

This half-hour anthology of horror stories, hosted the first season by Terence Stamp, premiered on Showtime on July 20, 1997, and was popular from the get-go. Created by Jeff Fazio and inspired by such vintage shows as The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, The Hunger pushed the envelope by going darker and occasionally blending erotica with the fantastic. The tone of individual episodes varies, but for the most part this series remains consistently creepy, generally avoiding jokey, Tales From the Crypt-type twist endings, and relying instead on sober climaxes that leave viewers with chills. Some of the 22 first-season episodes are weak, but most are solid—better, in fact, than some of the big-screen horror movies of the era. “Hidebound” introduces us to a female security guard (Brooke Smith) working her first night at a construction site, who is attacked by a murderous spirit only she can see. In “But at My Back I Always Hear,” professor Frank Ingram (Family Ties' Michael Gross) is haunted by a student (Karen Elkin) who continues to stalk him…even after she commits suicide. “I'm Dangerous Tonight,” an unusually spooky offering based on an obscure 1937 pulp magazine story by Rear Window writer Cornell Woolrich, involves a fashionable dress made with unusual red fabric that elicits bizarre and deadly behavior from the women who wear it. DVD extras include a behind-the-scenes look at the second season with David Bowie. Recommended. (E. Hulse)