Hunger

There’s only one word I can think of to describe the execution of this film: Apathy. It’s an attitude that seems to have dripped down through every tier of the production, from the writer and director to the actors themselves. It’s a mentality that says, “We don’t really care what we put out. Horror fans aren’t worried about story and characters, as long as there‘s blood and guts. They‘ll eat this up.” 

At the start of Hunger, five strangers wake up in an underground grotto and quickly realise that they have been kidnapped. After stumbling in the dark for a couple of days their prison is suddenly illuminated, revealing a clock on the wall which is slowly ticking backwards. The doctor among them, Jordan (Lori Heuring) deduces that the thirty notches on the clock actually correspond to days, and that their captor intends for them to kill and eat each other in order to survive a month underground.  

There’s nothing wrong with that premise, even if it does look a little familiar. Even on a shoe-string budget, some spirited direction and imaginative writing could have made this into something worth watching. But all of those hopes are dashed in the first twenty minutes, as we’re plunged into the dreaded state that I mentioned at the outset of this review: Apathy.  

The characters just don’t have enough meat on their bones (figuratively speaking) for us to care about them. I put this down to the script, which is bog standard. There is a lot of swearing, some moral posturing and not much else. None of the five characters ever break out of their stereotypes, and all are utterly predictable. You have the flighty, aggressive one whom you just know is going to cause trouble. The passive loner who finally snaps. The conniving one. The male and female ‘leaders’ who decide to take the moral high ground and set themselves against the pack. 

The villain appears frequently throughout the film, sipping fine wines and listening to classical music while he strokes his ginger moustache and watches the captives fight each other on a monitor. He has one forgettable line of dialogue in the whole movie, and his motivation for setting this sadistic trap is never made clear. 

There are dozens of twists and turns which the story could have taken to make it more interesting, but alas, these avenues remain unexplored.  

The visual aspect of this film is also bleak and unappealing. The title sequence is drab, and the walls of the prison look like papier mache. And it matters, because you’ll be spending most of the film’s running time in that one room. 

This is one to be avoided. It’s unoriginal, uninspired, and much like the subject matter, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.