Sete di sangue

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Visually, the film has dated: the hairstyles are tres out-of-date, and the colour cinematography was reminisce of those chocolate commercials I grew up watching on TV as a young boy in Melbourne.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.

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!

This unconventional Australian vampire movie stars Chantal Contouri as successful businesswoman Kate Davis, who is abducted by a secret society of vampires and taken to a 'farm', where human livestock is drained of blood, which is then processed to remove contaminants before being packaged for consumption worldwide. Kate is informed that she is a descendent of OG vampire Elisabeth Bathory and must accept her birthright as an aristocratic blood-drinker, the plan being for her to marry a vampire from another noble family, thereby uniting two superior bloodlines. Naturally, Kate struggles to accept this (not surprising, since she already has a boyfriend, Derek, played by Rod Mullinar), so the vampires attempt to condition her to come around to their way of thinking. Kind vampire Dr. Fraser (David Hemmings) disagrees with the brainwashing process and attempts to help Kate escape.

Like Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary (1975) and Martin (1977), Thirst, Australia's first vampire film, does away with the gothic conventions associated with the genre: these vampires are not affected by sunlight (which is a good job, given where they live), do not possess real fangs, and have no aversion to garlic, holy water and crosses. While it's not an entirely successful effort to contemporise vampire cinema - the pace is rather slow, and the structure of the film, with its numerous dreamlike sequences, can lead to confusion - the good outweighs the bad: the blood-draining scenes are suitably bizarre and grotesque, the cast is solid, Brian May's score is great, and there are a few memorable moments, including Kate's 'blood shower', a vampire drowning in a vat of blood, and Henry Silva's character falling from a helicopter onto high-voltage power lines.

Kate (Chantal Contouri) is a beautiful, young business woman with an idyllic life. What Kate doesn't know is that she's being watched by a secret society of modern day vampires. These folks want Kate to join them, and are absolutely committed to obtaining her membership!

THIRST is a unique vampire movie, in that its bloodsuckers are all part of a sophisticated cult / organization called The Hyma Brotherhood, that has a plan for mass exsanguination. Kate's importance to the group is explained, and the layout of their operation is ingenious. The vamps themselves are normal-looking, rather than bug-eyed monsters. Shirley Cameron and David Hemmings are especially good as two members with differing ideas on how to best handle the Kate situation. Henry Silva is also on board. You will probably never see a vampire movie as original as this one! Another early, Aussie gem...

If you're looking for a vampire movie that's a little different, this is it. This movie is a total classic. It's about a cult of humans who keep a farm of other humans and milk them for their blood. This cult abducts a woman who is the direct descendant of their founder, Elizabeth Bathory. The poor woman is horrified at the vampirism and the cult continually tries to force her into drinking blood. It's a wonderful, creepy, scary, weird vampire film. This one is a must see for you vampire enthusiasts.