Hunger

Awakening to find themselves trapped in an underground bunker with no way out, a group of people finds themselves subjected to an experiment in food deprivation to determine the effects of hunger on a person, and begin slowly losing their humanity the longer they stay involved in the situation.

As a pretty dismal and really uneven entry, this one doesn't have all that much going for it. One of the few positive aspects here is the rather appealing setup of the madman who has a legitimate quest in place. The effects of starvation and hunger on a human body serves as a solid enough premise and offers up the kind of disturbing start here that's got the potential for a much creepier film than it really provided in the end. The ability to explore the kind of human psyche probing that goes into this kind of genre effort is a rich and potentially exploitative feature which really could've given this a lot more substance as the long-term effects are quite intriguing work that the film utilizes. While it does have some grisly, realistic violence and gore shown here, the fact that this is more of a human psyche study than an out-and-out carving up of the human body, it's not as suspenseful, chilling or even creepy as it stands and really only serves those looking for the deeper meanings while those looking for more traditional efforts will be utterly bored and disappointed. Beyond the initial appearance and trappings of a torture film, the particular area of study conducted by the madman dictates that hardly anything at all even happens in this one as they sit around talking to each other or attempting escapes while they're being watched over, letting the film seemingly go on forever with absolutely nothing happening or even getting any kinds of answers to questions since the lead psycho never utters a word and all of the notes undertaken don't come off legibly. The other problem here is the fact that the study is never conducted in any kind of realistic manner since the whole affair transpires over the course of a month without anyone looking even slightly encumbered by only consuming water instead of any kind of substance. The attempts to make-up them into looking hideous or malnourished are completely mishandled and manage to cause them to look glamorous instead, quite the opposite of what the purpose is while also missing the point of a realistic manner of human deterioration that usually occurs. By completely failing to understand this basic concept of the film, it's nearly impossible to get into this one on any level which really throws this one away the most on top of the other flaws.

Rated Unrated/R: Extreme Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

Hunger is, if you ask me, a perfect example of the modern "post Horror" genre. It's not your usual "psycho killer" Slasher sub-genre, nor is it another one of these films with a wanting plot and lots of blood of gore to make up for it. Instead, Hunger proves to be an outstanding and impressive work of art.

Very much like "The Divide", hunger is like a psychological (and in this case biological) study of human nature, and its breaking points. The idea behind it is original enough (though I did notice some aspects that we've seen in the Saw series) and the way it's presented is truly astonishing. There are some gore parts, but such that fit in perfectly with the plot and are not the main feature, not by far.

Screenwriter L.D. Goffigan has truly created a marvelous story which excels in it being gruesome and terrible, yet always in the boundaries of humanity (which might actually be the scariest and most disturbing). Director Steven Hentges has taken this amazing screenplay, and turned it into a fantastic film! The cinematography, the flashes, the excellent use of sound effects, the contrasting classical music used throughout the film - all fit together to make a very worthy product. The acting was also superb in every aspect.

I do have some criticism, though... The film slightly failed in portraying the physical condition of the human body when it is starved. The actors did appear sickly and slightly demented, but looking at them did not give the complete impression of a person during the process of starving to death. I guess there was no way to make them appear skinny and smaller, and still with such an impressive production such a shortcoming really shows. Also, the physical movements some of the characters were able to do were simply illogical, considering they were supposed to be weaken by hunger.

And yet, all in all, Hunger is truly a work of art, and the IMDb rating of 5.1 doesn't do it justice, not by far. It's not a "fun" film to watch, but it unnerves and shocks the viewers just like this type of Horror should. Hunger will appeal to all fans of modern Horror, especially those of psychological Horror (though it does lack any real twists) and even those of "torture porn", though it really isn't.

I was going to rate it 8, hesitated, and came to a decision that it was worthy of 9 (if only to increase its dreadfully unfair rating here). I strongly and highly recommend it to any Horror fan out there!

Every human being needs to eat, drink and breathe in order to live. We are able to survive longer without food than air and water, but how far would we go to make sure we have food? There are starving people all over the world that simply starve to death, but that is a way of life for them. In other words: they aren't used to having anything to eat. What if they came from a nation where they have never had to go a day without a meal?

"Hunger" is from the bag of your unorthodox psychotics. If your traditional psychotic is one that kills people with no regard but still is a hands-on killer, the unorthodox psychotic is the one that sets up elaborate schemes or traps in order to kill his prey.

In this film a very mentally deranged man places five random strangers in a secluded yet locked location with no sustenance to survive except water and each other. His plan: see if they would cannibalize themselves in order to survive.

This is a movie that delves into how depraved human beings can become when facing death. It was an interesting movie that gave us some gore and a little bit of depression. I think we'd all like to believe in our basic humanity but what would we do?

CUBE the movie, back in 1999 opened the way of a new kind of horror flick, as also SAW did. People locked in together: a cave, a basement, an elevator shaft - a lift if you prefer - that lead to a close in suspense, character depiction.... Many possibilities of stories, details were possible. You had dozens and dozens of those films. This one. Ambition in the screenplay is here, but it is ankwardly done, a bit confused and the result is too smooth for my taste, it could have been far more disturbing, creepy, nasty. The ending is lousy, a French horror fim of this lind would have been different. Forgettable, but not crap either.

HUNGER: Definitely a film that requires rapt attention. Though the film starts out slow, the pace allows you to learn about each character. As the film progresses, one can't help to think about food deprivation and what limitations or lengths we'd go to to survive. Do you give in the animalistic behaviors that fear of starvation can bring about? Is one mentally strong to battle the mind and prevent a psychotic break? Does survival of the fittest mean becoming a monster? Hunger definitely makes you think and as the film progresses you find yourself cheering and engrossed with hope that someone survives the sadistic monster that initiated the mind bending slope if starvation and hell all-in-one. Rated 6 for storyline, buildup of film, focused location and good characters. A slow paced film with lapses at times; but worth watching.