The Addiction

"The dark is their sunlight. What makes them different is what keeps them alive."

1995 1h 22m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

🍅

75%

FRESH

⭐

6.5

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 330🍅75%Rotten Tomatoes★6.5IMDB · 12,554

DramaHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A vampiric doctoral student tries to follow the philosophy of a nocturnal comrade and control her thirst for blood.

“The dark is their sunlight. What makes them different is what keeps them alive.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Lili Taylor
Kathleen Conklin
Christopher Walken
Peina
Annabella Sciorra
Casanova
Edie Falco
Jean
Paul Calderon
Professor
Fredro Starr
Black
Kathryn Erbe
Anthropology Student
Michael Imperioli
Missionary

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Abel Ferrara
Writers: Nicholas St. John
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

82 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

31 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Abel Ferrara, shot by Ken Kelsch. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Joe Delia. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Mayin Lo shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Lili Taylor and Christopher Walken and Annabella Sciorra carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The dark is their sunlight. What makes them different is what keeps them alive.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0112288 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Abel Ferrara directs. Ken Kelsch behind the camera. Joe Delia scores. Mayin Lo cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

182 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
231 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Abel Ferrara, shot by Ken Kelsch. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Joe Delia. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Mayin Lo shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Lili Taylor and Christopher Walken and Annabella Sciorra carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The dark is their sunlight. What makes them different is what keeps them alive.".
8IMDB entry: tt0112288 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ken Kelsch
Original score: Joe Delia
Editing: Mayin Lo
Production design: Charles M. Lagola
Costume design: Melinda Eshelman
Makeup / hair: Wayne Herndon
Sound: Mel Zelniker
Runtime: 82 min · 1h 22m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $302,393
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Addiction (1995)
Rotten Tomatoes: 75% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 6.5/10 · 12,554 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Awards

5 wins & 4 nominations total

Also by

Abel Ferrara

Stills · wallpapers

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2016-11-20
★ 5/10
Even for an arthouse vampire film, it's pretentious, and that's quite an achievement. Existentialism abounds but substance (no pun intended) does not. Good for audio sampling though. Final rating:★★½ - Not quite for me, but I definitely get the appeal.
Dsnake12019-10-11
★ 6/10
The Addiction is one of the more thoughtful films about vampirism available today. While the film is incredibly thoughtful, with loads of subtext at every corner, it borders, and sometimes crosses into, pretention. There are times where the narration is attempting to add subtext, but it's so heavy-handed that the film loses sight of the fact it's a horror film. I'd argue it's thought piece first and horror film second, honestly. Maybe that makes it even more frightening. Christopher Walken is wonderful, and Lili Taylor does a fine job, as well. The choice to shoot the film in black and white was a great idea, as well. There's a real focus placed on the ideas the film is pursuing. Even though the subject of the horror in this film are vampires, the movie is truly describing humanity.