Thirst (1979)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Rod Hardy

Writer:

John Pinkney (writer)

Release Date:

29 September 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

This ancient Evil is now a modern industry.

Plot:

The descendant of Elizabeth Bathory is abducted by a cult of self-proclaimed supermen who achieve this...

Plot Keywords:

Blood | Cult | Bare Butt | Girl | Occult

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Chantal Contouri	...	Kate Davis
Shirley Cameron	...	Mrs. Barker
Max Phipps	...	Mr. Hodge
Henry Silva	...	Dr. Gauss
Rod Mullinar	...	Derek
David Hemmings	...	Dr. Fraser
Rosie Sturgess	...	Lori
Robert Thompson	...	Sean
Walter Pym	...	Dichter
Amanda Muggleton	...	Martha
Lulu Pinkus	...	Nurse
Chris Milne	...	David
Jacqui Gordon	...	Leah
Val Christensen	...	Toni
Glenys O'Brien	...	Guide

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M (TV rating) | Australia:R | UK:18 | USA:R | UK:15 (re-rating :2003)

Filming Locations:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Company:

F.G. Film Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in Puberty Blues (1981)

Aussie Vampire Films?

An Aussie vampire film? Never would have thought. Not to denigrate my country's film industry, but ... well, it's not known for producing bloodsucker flicks. The exception is this little oddity, released in 1979 and now hidden away in the 'horror' section of video stores across the country.

Having heard of the film for several yrs, and seen the cover at my local video store (Chantal Contouri drenched in gore), I decided to check it out. The result: one of the most genuinely horrifying films to emerge from Australia in recent decades. Not horrifying in the sense of 'The Delinquents', where it's horrifyingly bad and let's just sit back and have a good laugh. I am talking, this film is a recorded bad dream. Reality and nightmare blur, blood spurts, and Amanda Muggleton sneers as one of our screen's most genuinely evil villains. Contouri was fantastic, too, as the hapless young woman abducted and brought to a blood farm and made to honour her ancestor, Elisabeth Bathory - bloodsucker extraordinaire, and the figure at the heart of those other 70s horror films 'Countess Dracula' and 'Daughters of Darkness'. The scene where she sprouted fangs and kills a colleague really jolted this horror movie afficionado.

Visually, the film has dated: the hairstyles are tres out-of-date, and the colour cinematography was reminisce of those chocolate commercials I grew up watching on TV as a young boy in Melbourne. Problems also lay in the script's lack of depth. There was no psychological make-up to the characters, they had no history - and this made it very hard to relate to them on an emotional level (Contouri's character in particular). Nevertheless, this is an intriguing and eerie film that will appeal to fans of Australian cinema and horror films alike.