The Hunger: The Complete Second Season

After watching the first season of erotic supernatural series "The Hunger", I was looking forward to more, and finally "The Hunger:The Complete Second Season" has been released on DVD. Host Terrence Stamp is gone (thank goodness) & I have to admit that I did not much care for his preachy ruminations, and in his place is the refreshingly candid David Bowie who appears to be in some sort of prison (Bowie also acts in one of the episodes. Coincidentally, he was also in the movie "The Hunger" with Catherine Deneuve, portraying a dying vampire). As with the first season, there are 22 episodes in all, each one containing a fair share of nudity and sex scenes, running about 26 minutes each (on 4 DVDs):

1. Sanctuary - stars David Bowie and Giovanni Ribisi in a story about a wounded man seeking the aid of a rather interesting artist.
2. Skin Deep - this story sees a lesbian who becomes strongly attracted to an erotic dancer with unique body art, and enters a world of pain and pleasure.
3. The Dream Sentinel - one of my least favorites of this season. The story revolves around an erotic dancer (Alice Poon) who is 'haunted' by a ghost (Eric Roberts). The ghost is obsessed with possessing Alice's body, though his incorporeal form makes this rather difficult, and torments the girl instead by invading her dreams.
4. And She Laughed - Jennifer Beals of Flashdance stars as a woman tormented by a peeping tom in her apartment complex, driving her insane in the process.
5. Nunc Dimittis - I actually liked this one as it has a unique take on the traditional vampire tale. A servant (David Warner) discovers he is dying, and must fulfill the final request of his strange mistress, an ancient princess, with the surname Draculus.
6. Week Woman - this is one of my favorites. A foreigner(David LaHaye) desperate to get his green card agrees to marry a strange woman (Brooke Smith) who happens to take on a different personality every week, including n entire week where she thinks and acts as a dominatrix!
7. The Night Bloomer - this episode has sci-fi overtones as a fertilization and pollination specialist ropes in an unsuspecting man into her sinister scheme which involves getting rid of their boss.
8. The Diarist - Lisa Ann Hadley plays a practicing witch who casts dark spells in a desperate bid to revenge herself upon the man who spurned her.
9. Sin Seer - a man is tormented by his ability to see people's darkest secrets when he looks into their eyes, driving him to an act of desperation.
10. Triangle in Steel - heavy with Native American imagery. A construction worker makes an unfortunate choice in love.
11. Brass - a man inherits a brass bed and mirror from his dead father's estate, and discovers his father was involved in the dark arts.
12. The Replacements -another one with a sci-fi/vampire theme. A doctor tries to unearth the mystery of what is turning the women in his town into zombie-like creatures, including his beloved wife who suddenly seems distant and protective of a little something snuggled against her chest.
13. I'm Very Dangerous Tonight - remember the killer red dress from Season 1? It's back!
14. Wrath of God - quite a gruesome episode. A killer/torturer who considers himself the wrath of God targets mostly gay men at an apartment complex. There's a nice twist here involving the apartment complex owner and his relationship with a mysterious man.
15. Bottle of Smoke - a genie tale with a twist. A young woman inherits a special bottle from her dead aunt which has the power to grant her sexual gratification, but comes attached with a dire warning.
16. The Perfect Couple - an airport employee possesses the ability to bring people together and catches up with one couple a few years later to see how they are faring.
17. The Sacred Fire - a woman tries to help a homeless man who believes his family was murdered by aliens in the guise of humans.
18. Approaching Desdemona - a couple's closeness is threatened when the man becomes trapped by a strange sex website.
19. The Seductress - based on a story by horror writer Ramsey Campbell, this episode tells the story of a female author who is attracted to a strange man who consumes her, whilst feeling `haunted' by a past tragedy.
20. Double - a doppelganger story.
21. The Falling Man- an architect falls under the spell of an attractive woman who is more than she seems.
22. The Suction Method - a philandering middle-aged married man gets `sucked' in by a sexy carpet cleaner.

As for technical specs, the DVD is in 1.33:1 full frame.There are some `fuzzy' shots that are probably in there to enhance the `atmosphere' in the stories, including some scenes with dim lighting. Oh, there's a special feature "Mr. Skin's Top Ten Nude Scenes from The Hunger" (running time abt 29 mins).On the whole, my husband & I both found "The Hunger:Season 2" to be an entertaining and sexually-charged supernatural (with some elements of sci-fi) series.

I don't know how helpful my review is, as I haven't seen the first collection and I bought this series only for the fact that David Bowie hosts it; a brief yet insightful opening and resolution by David each episode, plus actually staring in one, so in regards to what I was expecting, I got what I wanted.
But more than likely, you're expecting more from this series than me.

My advice is; don't go in with too much expectation.
If you're after intricately written storyline and chilling horror, then this leaves much to be desired.
If you're after lots of sex, cheap 90's graphics, and choppy editing, than this might be more to your tastes...
Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy some of the series. There are a few well-written episodes that do leave you feeling a little uncomfortable, but it's not for the scares so much as it is for the shame you feel at humanity.
That's one thing this series does deliver; an insight into the sins of humanity and what drives us to do the things we do. Lust and greed are the key sins explored. It's not scary, more a series to creep you out, or get you horny, or both.

Because each episode is directed by a different person, the styles of storytelling change dramatically from one episode to the next, which can be irritating, especially as the quality of some episodes leaves you thinking "Are they serious with this?", but there are some episodes in between these worth the wait.
And if you don't like those stories either, they're good for a laugh.

My advice is, look up the series on the web and watch a few episodes before you buy it, so you don't feel too disappointed.
For the hardcore Bowie fans like me, I advise you to do the same. It's not worth buying for the ten minutes you get of David each episode.

You may be mis-led. This, overall has nothing to do with the original Hunger movie with David Bowie. It is not a series based on this mnovie...Each story is different with no relation or connection to each other. It is not a series.

But, each story is very good. Different stories on the various types of Hungers that we humans have. Whether it be sex, money, greed, power, blood, etc., each hunger has it's downfall. Most of the stories have ceatures, vampires, shapeshifters, and just horrific human beings doing beastly things to each other. It's worth buying. It's intriguing. I'm going to get season 2.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 11 reviews  3.1 out of 5 stars