What is quite brilliant here in The Hunger is how superimposition is used to not only make things fly but also to help them crawl; both a visual tool for the fantastic and the mundane. When these old-school FX are used for high spectacle, the results are impressive yet artificial. When superimposition is used to put characters into another setting instead of just filming in another location, the results are spectacular because of the artificiality. Freeman’s unique look is a great example of how the formats used in the indie world have their own gleam and sheen, like the Super 8 no-pro glow of Jet Benny back in the day.
This movie is another reason why the indie world is an ever-spooling feast of necessity-driven visual wonders. The way The Hunger will inject itself delightfully into your nervous system is by hitting that perfect tone called “serious high camp.” This is when everyone in the story is taking everything dead seriously in a lightened atmosphere where the budgetary limitations generate their own amusement. There are many scenes that have the look and pitch of a scenario in a training video. And they work brilliantly, each and every time.
“Director Freeman is my superhero of superimposition…”
However, there are several devastating scenes that are genuinely chilling with how realistic they look. Also, the story immediately pulls you in with super magnetic engagement. Freeman had the great idea to start off everything small with one instance and then expand quickly into something global. The surprising intricacy of the storyline’s development never lets your attention go.
Freeman’s script also thankfully does away with the second act in the 48-minute running time, making this film not so much a journey as a motorcycle jump. You get up in the air and then head back to the ground, skipping a half hour of romance and meetings. It is nothing but good stuff, and I love it. This should be the new standard of your in-flight entertainment on your nightly after-work flight to oblivion.
Quick, powerful, and instantly addictive, just like every substance that has ravaged the heartland this century. I am not equating The Hunger with hundreds of people on drugs in middle America, but I am saying it is just as fun. It is cheap, exciting, and a lot more interesting than whatever you are doing right now, including reading this.
"…will inject itself delightfully into your nervous system..."
