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Gruesome 'Thirst' puts a fresh spin on an old vampire tale
BY CLAUDIA PUIG
USA TODAY
Forget "Twilight." Fans of vampire movies are not likely to see anything more graphic, extreme or twisted than "Thirst."
...
Most of the film features voracious vampires cracking bones and feeding lustily and inventively on the comatose, as well as more traditional fare such as corpses. It's awash in excess, but also a fresh take on an old genre and notable for its striking cinematography and intriguing use of color. The horror-comedy-melodrama hybrid has some weirdly funny moments.
Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho of "The Host") is a Catholic priest who volunteers to be infected with a deadly virus to help doctors find a vaccine. Instead, of course, things go horribly wrong. He is given a transfusion of blood that is tainted -- and then some. The priest turns into a vampire. In his more religious state, he resembles a preppy Korean John Lennon. As a bloodsucker, he grows more disheveled. The contrast between his early ascetic life and his eventual descent into extreme carnality is intriguing but grows numbing as it reaches its protracted conclusion.
Sang-hyun also wrestles with newfound carnal desires. Assisting in his quest for sensual pleasures is Tae-ju (Kim Ok-vin), the young wife of an old friend. She goes from demure to demonic in record time.
Director Park Chan-wook ("Old Boy") has said he doesn't watch horror films (they scare him) and doesn't consider "Thirst" to be one. But with its gruesome visuals, how could it be anything else?
The film is at least a half-hour too long. The story goes off course with pointless distractions and feeds on nonstop grisliness. Blood is constantly spurting, spraying and sloshing. Even if you can handle the visuals, there's still the auditory assault: How long can we listen to blood being greedily slurped before squirming gets the better of us?
Additional Facts
'Thirst'
**
out of four stars
Rated R; bloody violence, disturbing images, sexual content, nudity, language
2 hours, 13 minutes
In Korean with English subtitles
http://www.freep.com/article/20090828/ENT01/908280354/1362/ENT/Gruesome--Thirst--puts-a-fresh-spin-on-an-old-vampire-tale
BY CLAUDIA PUIG
USA TODAY
Forget "Twilight." Fans of vampire movies are not likely to see anything more graphic, extreme or twisted than "Thirst."
...
Most of the film features voracious vampires cracking bones and feeding lustily and inventively on the comatose, as well as more traditional fare such as corpses. It's awash in excess, but also a fresh take on an old genre and notable for its striking cinematography and intriguing use of color. The horror-comedy-melodrama hybrid has some weirdly funny moments.
Sang-hyun (Song Kang-ho of "The Host") is a Catholic priest who volunteers to be infected with a deadly virus to help doctors find a vaccine. Instead, of course, things go horribly wrong. He is given a transfusion of blood that is tainted -- and then some. The priest turns into a vampire. In his more religious state, he resembles a preppy Korean John Lennon. As a bloodsucker, he grows more disheveled. The contrast between his early ascetic life and his eventual descent into extreme carnality is intriguing but grows numbing as it reaches its protracted conclusion.
Sang-hyun also wrestles with newfound carnal desires. Assisting in his quest for sensual pleasures is Tae-ju (Kim Ok-vin), the young wife of an old friend. She goes from demure to demonic in record time.
Director Park Chan-wook ("Old Boy") has said he doesn't watch horror films (they scare him) and doesn't consider "Thirst" to be one. But with its gruesome visuals, how could it be anything else?
The film is at least a half-hour too long. The story goes off course with pointless distractions and feeds on nonstop grisliness. Blood is constantly spurting, spraying and sloshing. Even if you can handle the visuals, there's still the auditory assault: How long can we listen to blood being greedily slurped before squirming gets the better of us?
Additional Facts
'Thirst'
**
out of four stars
Rated R; bloody violence, disturbing images, sexual content, nudity, language
2 hours, 13 minutes
In Korean with English subtitles
http://www.freep.com/article/20090828/ENT01/908280354/1362/ENT/Gruesome--Thirst--puts-a-fresh-spin-on-an-old-vampire-tale