Overrated and overhyped

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

This very unconventional vampire horror film is more of a tragic love story. Although it is a bit slow moving, it is captivating and never boring. The acting was really brilliant and the foreboding atmosphere made you wonder what was going to happen next. It was sensual and erotic at times, but very effective. Towards the end some scenes were really gross and actually difficult to watch - not because of gore but due to the shock factor. At the end, the climatic scramble for shade scene was funny as it was sad - loved it! This was just an effective vampire film as 2008's Swedish film 'Let the right one in'.

Catholic priest Sang-hyeon volunteers for an experiment in hospital. The experiment fails and he's infected with the deadly virus. After getting blood transfusions, he miraculously recovers. He becomes infatuated with his childhood friend Kang-woo's wife Tae-ju. He gets sick and finds himself drinking human blood.This has some great erotic bloody sexual vampire scenes. It gets weird. I do find the story meanders a bit. That's probably part of poetry that I don't get but the movie has some captivating scenes. Kang-ho Song is a great lead. He is so magnetic and so charismatic. This may not be everybody's taste. It is slower than most modern horrors. It's a different kind of vampire movie.

I came across this flick at a convention being sold as the new flick from director Park Chun- wook. Does it ring a bell, Oldboy (2003). So we do know that he is famous for ultra-violent flicks but let me tell you that this one here isn't violent at all, to be honest, I can even say that many will turn this off because it goes rather slow.But if you sit though 2 hours and 32 minutes as I did then you will slowly be moved from a love movie into a vampire flick. Taking his time that's exactly what the director did. We first do meet the priest who's infected with some disease and from there on is being cured by becoming a vampire. But he's not only a vampire but he also falls in love with a girl who takes away his virginity and becomes a vampire too. Together they have fun until the fun becomes an addiction.There's red stuff here and there and the effects used are really well done and are sometimes on the edge of gore but it's the length and slowness of this flick that will play parts with the viewers. Being released at the time Twilight was big this surely has a bit of the same but done in Asian style and much better of course. And if you can see through it all you will have a smile now and then...Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0,5/5

To begin, Chan-wook Park is easily in my top 3 favorite Directors of all time. Everything he has made is a masterpiece. He treats every single scene of his movies like a painting, each of them a work of art. Thirst is probably his most strange and creative film I have seen by him. He creates a fresh and new story to add to the tale of vampires. Thirst is a much different film compared to Parks more gory films, like his Vengeance Trilogy. This film while still having its gory moments has much more of a comical side to it.The main character is Priest Sang-hyeon. He gets involved in a experiment where he believes he is doing good and is going to heal people by going through this experiment. By the end of it he contracts the EV disease but survives and is transformed into a vampire. Now that he has the blood thirst, and sexual urges he tries and contains himself so he can still be a priest and serve the Lord.http://tgtbtw.blogspot.com/The whole first half of the movie is filled with awkward and very humorous moments. It's a side you don't see too often in Park's films. So for me it was great to see his sense of humor really come out in this movie but at the same time make it a very entertaining vampire movie. But about half through the way movie the story drastically changes and it begins to go back what were used to seeing in Park's films. The movie is basically split into two acts. The first being the goofier and humorous type, where we see the Priest learning what it means to be a vampire. But the second act stays more true to the vampire genre, with lots of eating of humans, and the vampires having more of the higher species mentality.Both acts of the movie are fantastic, and the whole cast is superb. One actress in particular is OK-bin Kim. She is only 22 in this movie, but her character forces her to play many different types of roles. She starts out as a very submissive wife who was forced into her marriage, but we than get to see her grow and overcome her "nightmare" of a life, as she calls it. Each of the characters has a rise and a fall, and the movie is filled with very dramatic and even more intense scenes. I'd have to say the last 20 minutes is my favorite 20 minutes of any Chan- wook Park films, and maybe of all times. The ending is set in gorgeous scenery, and has a very emotional finale. If you are a fan of Chan-wook Park in the slightest, or interested in the myth of vampires, you must see Parks rendition of it.