Sang-hyun volunteers for a dangerous mission in Africa. He will willingly be injected with a new virus that is ravaging the continent in order to be the guinea pig for a new cure. Incredibly, he survives, but back in Korea the experience has mysteriously turned him into a blood addict, He takes his blood from dying patients at a hospital which somehow cures them. A vampire he may be but not in the traditional sense – he’s got the powers but not fangs and he doesn’t go around preying on innocent victims. He becomes obsessed with a beautiful wife called Tae-joo. She willingly submits herself to become a vampire by Sang-hyun. However they soon come to argue when they have differing views on what a vampire should do for food – he would rather be given blood freely whilst Tae-joo thoroughly enjoys hunting humans for blood with gleeful abandon. Sang-hyun decides that Tae-joo has become too dangerous and reckless as a vampire so he decides to take matters into his own hand.
Thirst is one of the best vampire movies I’ve seen, it’s right up there with Let The Right One In even though both movies look at the vampire legend in different ways. If you’re into Hollywood vampire movies don’t bother watching this one. It hasn’t got any crosses, garlics, stakes and such. This is a thinking man’s vampire movie. Park Chan-Wook does a great job directing, the storyline is compelling, horrifying and erotic. Asian horror fans will enjoy it as it has plenty of gushing blood. I loved Kim Ok-Vin as the girl who gets turned into a vampire and starts going on a bloodlust. Definitely highly recommended.
Sadako’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5