Cult filmmaker Abel Ferrera worked with plenty of big names but none of his movies ever really broke through to the mainstream. For another effort from his 1990s limelight, we go to 1995’s The Addiction.

Kathleen Conklin (Lili Taylor) attends New York University as a grad student. A mysterious woman (Annabella Sciorra) attacks her one evening, bites her neck and sips her blood.

This leads Kathleen to suddenly develop her own taste for veins and her personality changes as well. The previously shy and withdrawn Kathleen suddenly becomes more extroverted as she deals with the impact of her transformation.

No one can call that an especially creative plot, as Addiction offers yet another basic vampire story. The question becomes whether or not Ferrera can do anything fresh with the well-trodden theme.

Ferrera tries to expand horizons, mainly via the metaphor implied in the movie’s title. Ferrera makes vampirism akin to drug addiction and that becomes a dominant theme.

However, the story doesn’t explore this in a manner that rises above the superficial. Ferrera gives Kathleen’s addiction such literal trappings that it al feels awfully on the nose.

For instance, the first time Kathleen “feeds” on someone, she uses a syringe to inject that person’s blood into her veins. I guess Ferrera didn’t feel confident that audiences would get the notion that vampirism is a form of addiction in a film called The Addiction if he didn’t attach the physical mechanisms attached to drug use.

Ferrera also uses Kathleen’s grad school studies as a critique of philosophers. The movie displays graphic footage of atrocities in war and shows Kathleen’s increasing dissatisfaction with the way philosophy seems to attempt to rationalize these domains.

None of this manages to go much of anywhere. Instead, we find ourselves in a pseudointellectual stab at a vampire movie that never becomes as deep or insightful as it believes.

With a tight 82-minute running time, Addiction should crank along at a good pace. Instead, it plods and seems padded.

A lot of the film just feels like Philosophy for Dummies. Poor Taylor needs to recite endless quotes and references that become beyond tedious.

Even the usually reliable Taylor can’t do much with this pretentious gruel. While she resists most urges to overplay the part, she seems contrived and superficial too much of the time.

Granted, those terms apply pretty well to The Addiction as a whole. A genre flick gussied up in its own self-importance, the film lacks the smarts it needs to explore its topics in a positive manner.

The Addiction appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. The Dolby Vision package reproduced the source well.

Almost no concerns connected to definition occurred. A few wide shots demonstrated a little softness, but that was it. The rest of the time the movie looked distinctive and crisp.

I saw no issues with jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained absent. Grain seemed natural, and print flaws failed to appear.

Contrast was strong, with solid distinction in the black and white tones. The dark elements were firm and rich, while shadows seemed clear and well-defined.

The disc’s HDR added kick to contrast and whites. Across the board, this became a fine presentation.

Though satisfactory, I didn’t think much of the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1. In particular, the movie lacked a particularly expansive soundscape.

For the most part, the mix emphasized music from the side and rear speakers. Mostly focused on NYC ambience, instances of effects popped up in these channels, but a lot of the time those components remained pretty focused on the front center, so don’t expect much breadth and engagement.

At least audio quality seemed pretty good, with speech that appeared natural and concise. Music showed nice range as well.

Effects didn’t have much to do but they remained reasonably accurate and concise. Nothing here dazzled, so expect a lackluster soundtrack.

When we shift to extras, we launch with an audio commentary from director Abel Ferrera. Along with moderator Brad Stevens, he offers a running, screen-specific view of… not much.

Oh, Ferrera occasionally offers minor nuggets related to the movie’s creation. However, these prove rare and not especially insightful.

Instead, Ferrera tends to mutter along with the movie and even with sporadic questions from Stevens, he tells us little. Maybe five percent of the commentary offers actual information, so fans can skip it and miss virtually nothing.

Some video programs follow, and Talking with the Vampire runs 30 minutes, 55 seconds. It involves composer Joe Delia, cinemagrapher Ken Kelsch and actors Lili Taylor and Christopher Walken.

Given that Ferrera directed this documentary, I expected a program light on details related to the production of Addiction and heavy on esoteric tangents. Every once in a while we get some thoughts that make sense in the context of the movie, especially as the participants relate to the topic of addiction.

But not many. Instead, we hear musings on unrelated topics like Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death or Taylor’s trapeze hobby in this loose and unsatisfying piece.

An Interview with Abel Fererra spans 16 minutes, 21 seconds and offers the filmmaker’s thoughts about the use of a female lead, shooting black and white, dealing with low budgets, working with screenwriter Nicholas St. John, and the movie’s ending.

After the pointless commentary and the rambling “Talking”, I feared this chat would become another collection of tangents in search of a purpose. Happily, Ferrera remains more focused and brings a mix of good notes.

Next we find an Appreciation. It goes for eight minutes, 47 seconds and features critic Brad Stevens.

As expected, Stevens offers his appraisal of the film. He gives us good insights.

Abel Edits The Addiction lasts eight minutes, 42 seconds and shows footage of Ferrera as he cuts the film – well, in theory. Though we see a little of that, mostly Ferrera paces the room and rambles.

Along with the film’s trailer, we get an Image Gallery with 17 shots from the set. It seems unmemorable, partly because some of the shots are blurry.

An arthouse take on vampire flicks, The Addiction never goes anywhere. Slow and pretentious, the film can’t achieve the intelligence it needs to deliver something insightful or involving. The 4K UHD comes with very good visuals, adequate audio and a disappointing mix of bonus materials. Slow and tedious, the film fails to work either as horror or as social commentary.