The second (and final) season of this erotic horror anthology series follows the pattern set down by the first. David Bowie replaces Terence Stamp as host, and takes up the job of briefly uttering portentous statements before each story rolls. These stories star such luminaries as Giovanni Ribisi, Eric Roberts, Jennifer Beals and Lori Petty, and are based on tales by a pretty impressive line-up of line-up of writers: Poppy Z. Brite, Kim Newman, David J. Schow, Gemma Files and Ramsey Campbell, to name but a few.
As before, the erotic fixations give the series a clear identity, but also narrow its focus so that a marathon viewing of episodes would be a bit tiresome. But again, as before, the talent involved means horror fans would be remiss to pass the series up without giving it a serious look.
Video
Same deal as with Season One: the colours, contrasts, blacks and flesh tones are all good, and the image is sharp. But the grain is still present, as is the artifacting. However, and this may just be me, but I thought the problem with the reds was a bit less noticeable this time around. The aspect ratio, as one would expect, is 1.33:1.
Audio
And everything that my review of Season One said about the sound holds true here. The 2.0 is a very solid example of its kind, with fine-sounding music, decent surround effects, and generally a crisp, clean sound.
Special Features
Mr. Sin’s Top Ten Nude Scenes from The Hunger Seasons 1 and 2: (29:14) Sigh. Well, if you were watching this series for only one reason, I suppose this feature would be extremely useful, getting you straight to the “good bits” without all that irritating plot getting in the way.
Final Thoughts
Though we aren’t talking a series that will be mentioned in the same breath as the original versions of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, there is still a lot here of value for the horror connoisseur.
