Line #3 Film/TheAddiction


1	[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/addictionposter_6.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:255:''"Order me to go away..."'']]
3	''The Addiction'' is a 1995 indie horror film by Creator/AbelFerrara, about a UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity graduate student of philosophy who finds herself bitten by a vampire and soon develops symptoms of becoming a bloodsucking creature of the night herself. Ferrara, being Ferrara, turns vampirism into an analogy for drug (specifically heroin) addiction and uses the [[BigRottenApple seedier side of New York]] as his backdrop.
4
5	Starring Creator/LiliTaylor, with supporting roles by Creator/ChristopherWalken and Creator/EdieFalco.
6
7	!!Tropes:
8	* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Casanova takes this position; vampires do evil because they are inherently evil, and they might as well enjoy it.
9	* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler:Kathleen is given Viaticum (a Eucharist administered to someone who is dying) by a priest, and is then seen visiting her grave in broad daylight. It is left unclear if she was somehow redeemed and is no longer a vampire, or if she's still a vampire but has sufficiently controlled her impulses yet can't return to her old life.]]
10	* BerserkButton: Being presented with a pamphlet by a street missionary causes Kathleen to go into a custodial closet and launch herself into a furious tirade.
11	* TheBigRottenApple: How New York is depicted outside of the university.
12	* TheCasanova: The woman who bites Kathleen calls herself "Casanova." She turns Kathleen [[spoiler:and participates in the blood orgy]] seemingly for the thrill and pleasure of it.
13	* {{Chiaroscuro}}: Oh, is it ever. It makes the light/shadow, day/night contrast all the sharper.
14	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The entire film is shot in black and white.
15	* DescentIntoAddiction: Look at the title! The film makes several clear analogies between Kathleen's condition and heroin abuse: she initially takes blood through a syringe to the arm; she becomes increasingly aggressive and withdrawn; suffers severe body pains during withdrawal; goes into a confusing, hyperactive monologue; overdoses after [[spoiler:the blood orgy]]; and at one point encourages someone else to share a blood needle in the same manner a drug pusher might.
16	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Kathleen attempts this by having a nurse open the blinds in her hospital room and letting the sunlight through, but Casanova comes in and shuts them before Kathleen gets hurt.]]
17	* EvilCostumeSwitch: Kathleen begins wearing all-black (including black nail polish) after being turned. [[spoiler:Her victims also wear black for the blood orgy.]]
18	* FaithHeelTurn: [[spoiler:WordOfGod states that Kathleen admits her powerlessness, submits to God, and becomes reborn in the end.]]
19	* {{Gorn}}: The film is interspersed with still images of atrocties such as the My Lai Massacre and the Holocaust, which tie into both Kathleen's thesis and the film's larger themes. [[spoiler:The climactic blood orgy may also qualify.]]
20	* NotUsingTheZWord: The word "vampire" is never said, and neither is any common nickname, like "bloodsucker". The common vampire powers are not really talked about either. Cathy talks about not being able to go out in the daytime, but drinking blood is made into a metaphor for addiction. Overall, its "show, don't tell".
21	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Given how vampirism is used as a very blatant metaphor for drug addiction, the film draws multiple parallels between Kathleen's behavior and that of a drug addict (see DescentIntoAddiction above).
22	* ThePhilosopher: Kathleen is explicitly a student of philosophy and ponders the implications of being a vampire in many of her scenes.

Context Film / TheAddiction