Annabella Sciorra, Christopher Walken, Dr. Louis A. Katz

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71% liked it

2,472 ratings

Critics

73% liked it

26 critics

R, 1 hr. 22 min.

Directed by: Abel Ferrara

Release Date: October 4, 1995

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Flixster Reviews (124)


  • September 23, 2008
    My friends often feel that it's fully salubrious to feed my vampire movie compulsion. So, one of these wonderful creatures bought me this DVD. I was excited to see it again, since it had been a awhile.
    The Addiction will not appeal to everyone. A. It is an independent film. B. ...( read more)It is black and white. I on the other hand, really enjoy this film.
    The Addiction is the story of a college student, name Kathleen. Kathleen is bitten by a strange woman, and comes to the realization that she is a vampire. This is not your average gore fest vampire kills everyone film. It's really quite a clever tale of the inner battle between good and evil that feeds on humanity, and how it's easier then we think to go a little over the edge.
    Abel Ferrara's vision was well played out in this film. The casting was stellar. Lili Taylor played Kathleen flawlessly. She made the audience cognizant and some times even compassionate of her struggles. I was pleased that the lead vampire in this film was played by Annabella Sciorra. I can only think of a few other films that would give this fantasized character to a woman. She is also quite striking, bravo. There are a heap of well known faces in this film including; Christopher Walken, Edie Falco, Kathryn Erbe, and Michael Imperioli.
    The Addiction is a movie that didn't get near the credit it deserves. If you share my strange obsession, or just enjoy a good vampire movie...You should put this one on your list.
  • November 16, 2006
    Appropriately down 'n' dirty flick from marverick director Abel Ferrara. The Addiction deals with vampirism sans mythology, placing such an affliction as a parallel with drug addiction, a topic Ferrara has addressed before several times, most notably in the seminal Bad Lieutenant...( read more). Walken has a small but highly worthy part, playing a world-weary existential child of the night, using torturous methods to validate his claims that the world is uncompromisingly dog-eat-dog ("The entire world's a graveyard, and we, the birds of prey picking at the bones"). The cinematography (in glorious black and white) is stark, adding to the urban nightmarish feel that Ferrara is so accustomed to. This is the perfect antidote to any claims that he is nothing more than a Scorsese imitator.
  • March 8, 2006
    Philosophical vampires? Genius.
  • November 19, 2007
    Another great one from Ferrara. Using vampirism as a metaphor for drug addiction would make me puke blood if it were released now, but at the time I thought it was brilliant. When I first saw this I thought the movie was smarter than me, but now that I've grown up big and stron...( read more)g...well big anyway, I might keep up with it. Nevertheless, great film that's stylish as hell with a great payoff.
  • September 30, 2009
    Unlike previous works of Abel Ferrara's, 'The Addiction' has an unnatural feel about it. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, considering it's core subjects, but this does effect the tempo of the movie.
    Maybe I'm splitting hairs here, but I did find that we had no conce...( read more)pt or understanding of the main characters personality. So, when her transformation from mortal human to vampire came about, it was as if her personality had changed at the drop of a hat. Also, the film started off with some speed to it's plot development, which then slowed down, and then sped itself up again.
    With my previous encounters of Ferrara's work, which includes 'Bad Lieutenant' & 'Driller Killer', Ferrara usually sets the scene at a steady pace. By doing this, you find it easier to get settled into an unsettling world that he has created. However, 'The Addiction' does not give you that same opportunity.
    But, this movie does have an appeal to it. Not only is this a unique & original vampire story, but the noir atmosphere fits its philosophical points of view.
    The writer of this low budget independent movie, Nicholas St. John, has made it very clear that he has a gift of being able to write the philosophies of each character, and make them sound natural. So for a viewer who would like to take away something in-depth from this movie, you can quite happily listen to, and dissect, the narration and dialogue of the main character, and discover new views on some of life's situations. However, if you are looking for twists, and plot development, and many other tricks to keep your mind occupied, then I'm sorry, but this movie may not be for you.

    Personally, I'm sat on the fence with my opinion on 'The Addiction'. I feel that it is the sort of movie that I would have to watch several times over before I fully understood it. Sadly, I also feel that it is a movie that I could only watch if I was in the right frame of mind.
    I would be more than happy to have this movie in my collection, but I don't think I will be in a mad rush to purchase it.
  • August 3, 2009
    What happens when a doctoral candidate in philosophy suddenly becomes a vampire. Not funny and surprisingly gory. Worth watching.
  • March 1, 2009
    a philosopical take on vampires. stylistically great but the films lacks of real substance, we only get to see taylor annoying performace for about 82 minutes.
  • September 26, 2008
    Lili Taylor and her hypnotizing voice, incredibly done scenes, good soudtrack, and every aspect of art work inside another great art work... I have to see it again and to absorb every second of it. I'm amazed...

    Most of the people compare it with drug addiction, but I didn't g...( read more)et it that way. I see it as a great metaphore for a rotten world we live in today. Vampire seems to me as a symbol for a great turst of every single man, greed that is in all of us. The vampire is feeding on other humans, and therefore makes a circle that is going on forever. It's a greatest sin to kill, but the biggest punishment is to live forever.
  • September 8, 2008
    Stylistically interesting modern (or post-modern) vampire film. It makes a comparison between vampirism and drug addiction (specifically drugs in the visuals), which is unusual. I don't know if it was the director's intention to distance his audience from the characters and event...( read more)s, but that's what I felt.

    The film probably means more to those who know Philosophy.
  • June 30, 2008
    Como inspirado por las novelas de vampiros de Anne Rice, el realizador Abel Ferrara se aboca en The Addiction (1995) a plasmar su personalísima visión sobre el mito del vampiro, en una original y cuidada puesta en imágenes, aunque fallida en cuanto a su dirección de actores y la ...( read more)inseguridad que demuestra en el desarrollo de varias escenas. Dentro de una trama protagonizada casi en su totalidad por vampiros, el resultado incluso llega a mover al humor involuntario.

    Además, la película goza de una buena fotografía, que roza un estilo expresionista y del film-noir, para desarrollar un análisis sobre las adicciones tomando como base un escueto argumento de vampiros, que arranca de manera atractiva con el sádico ataque que sufre una estudiante de filosofía (Lili Taylor), en alguna calle solitaria de Nueva York, por parte de una atractiva mujer vampiro (Anabella Sciorra), quedando convertida en una más de su especie.

    Lejos de ser un buen filme de vampiros, lo rescatable del trabajo de Ferrara es su intención de darle un giro a este subgénero de películas, tanto estética como temáticamente, en especial en esa escena de antología del festín que se dan los vampiros con maestros, padres de familia y algunos compañeros de la universidad. Su tratamiento, visual y argumental, del tema de la maldad, va teniendo una comparación con la decadencia que va experimentando Lili. Ferrara y sus guionistas, incluso, intentan comparar estos elementos sanguinolentos y vampíricos con enfermedades mortales de la sangre, como el SIDA.
    Más en http://pantallanueve.blogspot.com

Critic Reviews


May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Abel Ferrara, working from a rabidly ambitious script by Nicholas St. John, gives the genre a provocative and perversely funny snap that Anne Rice might envy. full review

View more The Addiction reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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The Addiction Trivia


  • Was a spy with no memory, a genius with no future, a medic who developed a drug addiction after keeping the murder of his CO quiet, and refused to leave his fellow soldiers when he discovered his brothers were dead  Answer »
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