An action-packed slog

Admirable film.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The horror genre always seems particularly apt to produce full length movies out of material that is really only suitable for half hour, or if we're being generous, one hour long episodes. What we end up with are movies as tedious as "Thirst", something that begins to recall the dreamlike vampire garbage of Jean Rollin not due to style but somnambulance. The constant repetition of shots of blood being drawn from people and people being led around to have blood drawn from them almost puts you to sleep - not exactly a virtue in a horror film.There are a few more lively moments, such as b-movie king Henry Silva dying from a fall from a helicopter onto power lines, but that is far, far too little, far, far too late. The shots of people actually drinking blood are nowhere near as shocking as the movie seems to think. We know it's about vampires - that's established during the opening moments. What's shocking is that it takes so long for the movie to depict that, as if we hadn't caught on by then."Inn of the Damned" was also a blown up episode, but at least it was a great episode. Nothing happens in "Thirst" for over an hour of its runtime. It's ending is also trite and predictable, and basically nothing the movie hasn't already shown us or told us. Yeah, so the girl trying to get away is now a vampire too. Is that supposed to be surprising? It is obvious right from the beginning that they are trying to turn her into one. And David Hemmings - who cares? He rushes through this movie like an uncomfortable, ageing Rik Mayall (RIP), but without his sense of purpose. He looks inconvenienced about being a part of this debacle.I felt his pain.Even today there does seem something original and frightening about the concept of vampires owning and running a hospital like facility for their prey. It's just a shame that this movie does absolutely nothing interesting with the idea.

One mild spoiler...Kate Davis (Chantal Contouri), a successful businesswoman unknowingly descended from the notorious vampiress Elizabeth Bathory, is abducted by a cult of modern-day vampires with a view to uniting her bloodline with that of another upper-class vampire bloodline. The cult - whose membership numbers 70,000 worldwide - harvest humans for their blood on farms and consider themselves a superior race. However, Kate stubbornly refuses to accept her vampire links, which means the cult has to use methods that threaten to cause a split amongst their leaders… Thirst came across as to me as The Prisoner (TV series) coupled with an updated version of the Nazi holocaust camp, and a study of the inevitable adoption of brainwashing techniques of any widespread organisation whose power is allowed to grow unchecked. While it uses vampirism as a theme, it doesn't really serve as a device for horror in the way that more conventional vampire films do. In fact it is more a psychological thriller focusing on the systematic destruction of a person's will. For this reason it's difficult to compare it with any other vampire movie to provide a frame of reference. That doesn't mean this is any better than others of the genre, but it is definitely, well, different.The acting is pretty strong throughout, although Shirley Cameron as one of the more sadistic leaders of the cult, acts like she's in one of those spoof spy thrillers of the 60s: all she needs is an eye patch, a cigar, and a flick-knife in her boot to make the impression complete. David Hemmings, whose pretty looks were already fading while he was still in his thirties, provides by far the slickest - and understated - performance, and seeing him run rings around the rest of the cast makes you wish he had found roles more deserving of his talent. Henry Silva also makes an appearance, although he has practically nothing to do other than die a memorable death.Thirst does have a fairly slow pace that won't appeal to fans of more conventional vampire flicks. It disregards vampire lore - the 'vampires' have no fangs, can stand daylight, garlic, crosses,etc - and for that reason it's to be applauded. Made at a time when the vampire genre was going through something of a hiatus - it at least makes a better fist of transplanting the genre to the modern day than other 70s efforts like the Yorga films and Hammer's Dracula 1973 AD, but it still seems a little unsure of itself and fails to make its basic idea entirely convincing simply because it tries to merge old-style religious ceremonies with production-line technology. For anyone who likes to see movies that at least try something different - even if it doesn't succeed completely - this one would definitely be worth a look.

I'm a big fan of ingenuity in movies, and if a film offers something different from what has gone before it; it's bound to be liked by me. Thirst offers a new take on the classic vampire legend, and it works to fairly good effect. While it retains some aspects of the classic vampire story (fangs for example), it adds enough in to make it unique and the whole idea of vampires farming humans for blood is both ingenious and fascinating, while leaving lots of room for the film to create something fresh and exciting out of it. The plot harks back to the beginnings of the vampire legend with a descendant of one of it's founding figures; Elizabeth Bathory. This descendant is tracked down by a vampiric cult that wants to induct her into their ways. This cult owns a place called "the farm", in which they effectively farm humans for their blood, in much the same way as we farm cows for milk. The descendant, as you might expect doesn't want to be a part of this cult but they persevere and what follows is a psychological horror film, as she gradually makes her decent into madness.Thirst is extremely surreal, and it capitalises on the strange idea of humans being farmed very effectively. The cleanness of the operation clashes well with the macabre element of the film, and the result is a setting that is totally unique to this movie. The psychological element of the story is very well done, which is lucky as it makes up the backbone of the film. It's constantly invigorating as we watch our heroine descend into madness, and through the way that the story is told we are never really sure of what's going on; much like our central character. The music helps to emphasise this confusion, as it's pounding tones continually bewilder the viewer. The film's problems are mainly in the beginning as it's relatively slow to start, which may annoy some viewers (including me, somewhat) and also the plot can get a little too confusing at certain points. Still, in spite of that; this is a more than admirable take on the classic legend and it all boils down to an exciting climax, which ensures that the film ends on a high.

Back in the 1970s the Australian film industry went through a renaissance due to Government investment and tax cuts. Many of the best known movies from that period and into the early 1980s were costume dramas ('Picnic At Hanging Rock', 'My Brilliant Career', 'Gallipoli'). Though there were a handful of exceptions to this, most notably the biker movie 'Stone' and Peter Weir's black comedy 'The Cars That Ate Paris', there were very few genre or exploitation movies being made. Inspired in part by Roger Corman local producer Antony Ginnane attempted to shake things up by making sex comedies, thrillers, and this, Australia's first vampire movie. Ginnane recruited experienced TV directors who could work quickly and effectively with small budgets. 'Patrick' was his first major success, and that was soon followed by 'Thirst', which is arguably the best horror movie to come out of Australia. 'Mad Max' was in post-production around the same time, and both movies deserve some kudos. Ginnane continued with a few other movies (including the schlock classic 'Turkey Shoot') but sadly his dream of creating the Aussie equivalent of AIP or New World just wasn't to be. Chantal Contouri, a popular TV actress, plays Kate Davis, a successful advertising executive, who is the descendant of the Countess Elizabeth Bathory. A secret society of hi-tech (for the time!) vampires kidnap her at try to convince her to fulfill her destiny. They try all kinds of tricks, including drugs and brainwashing. The supporting cast includes Max Phipps (later The Toadie in 'Mad Max 2'), and Rod Mullinar ('Patrick'), even Patrick himself, Robert Thompson. The Australian cast is helped out by two overseas imports Henry Silva and the late David Hemmings. Silva doesn't do all that much apart from look cool, but Hemmings gives a good performance as the enigmatic Dr. Fraser. He and Ginnane continued to work together after this movie e.g. 'The Survivor' starring Robert Powell which Hemmings directed and Ginnane produced. The DVD of 'Thirst' features a great looking print. For such a low budget movie (under Aus$750,000) it stands up well and has surprisingly strong production values. The commentary from Ginnane and director Rod Hardy is also an eye opener and emphasizes just how resourceful Aussie film makers had to be back in the 1970s and 1980s. It's no wonder so many of them went on to successful Hollywood careers. 'Thirst' in my opinion is not only the most effective and interesting Australian horror movie, but one of the most underrated vampire movies of all time. It has languished in obscurity for too many years. 'Thirst' - acquire the taste!