Sunday, November 7, 2010

Thirst (2009)

I watched this movie on the recommendation of my awesome hairstylist, Jamielynn.  Of course she was correct in the fact that this movie is totally kickass.  Thirst comes to us from the writer of Oldboy,  Chan-Wook Park.  I feel like Park's movies are either love 'em or hate 'em type of affairs with their complicated concepts and extended lengths going over the heads of some viewers.

Thirst, like many Korean horror movies, has a lot of ins and outs and what-have-yous.  A devout Catholic priest, Sang-hyeon, volunteers for a risky medical experiment.  The experiment infects the subject with a deadly disease and then attempts to cure it with a vaccine.  However, the experiment is not so successful, and everyone dies, except for Sang-hyeon.  Welllll, he almost dies, but receives a life-saving blood tranfusion.  In the form of vampire blood.  And so it begins.

The priest returns to his town and congregation bandaged due to the blistering effects of the disease.  However, people become convinced that he is a healer and miracle worker due to the fact that he was the only one who survived out of all of the test subjects.  He is continually badgered to pray for and heal the sick and dying, including a childhood friend, Kang-woo.

After praying for Kang-woo, his mother becomes convinced that he has been completely cured.  She invites Sang-hyeon to visit with them, where he re-acquaints himself with another childhood friend, Kang-woo's now-wife, Tae-ju.  He starts to become close to the family, meanwhile struggling with issues of his sexuality, his faith, and his need to consume blood for sustenance.  What path will this lead the troubled priest down?

If you love movies like Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, you will love this flick.  It has so much going on, and is so full of awesome, that it's hard to tear yourself away from it.  I love Chan-Wook Park's incredible storytelling ability, along with the excellent acting and atmosphere he brings to his films.  This is definitely one to check out.

3 comments:

Viking Wolf Woman said...

I didn't like this as much as Oldboy or Lady Vengenance; but I thought it had a lot to offer. I also thought it made a weird jump in the middle when suddenly all three of them were fishing - and some of it was kind of confusing after that point - but overall I thought it was a great film and an interesting new take on the vampire genre.

The Scream Queen said...

@MotherFirefly: I definitely enjoyed Oldboy and Lady Vengeance better. And I do agree it got a little crazy after the fishing scene. Overall I did think it was pretty badass though.

Maynard Morrissey said...

I'm not a huge vampire fan but this one was really, really cool!