Sete di sangue

This murky oddity is great fun and well made on eerie locations in Victoria Australia at a real scary place that actually exists called MontSalvat 'castle' by 70s drive in auteur Antony Ginnane. He also made a very strong Carrie like thriller called Patrick. Other Aussie thrillers of the time include Summerfield and The Chain Reaction.

THIRST should be a cult film but lacks the 35mm availability for cinemas to make it exactly that. Like Rocky Horror, Legend Of Hell House or Phantom Of The Paradise, all part of a mad parochial horror cycle of the 70s. Find it and have a great time. You will love the, er, milking scenes.........Antony..your films are languishing! get em out there again!

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!

The descendant of Elizabeth Bathory is abducted by a cult of self-proclaimed supermen who achieve this state of superiority by drinking from the "blood cows" kept at the "dairy farm", and they try to get her to join them.

This Ozploitation film has nice gore effects, plenty of blood, and a plot that can only be seen as a reversal of other Bathory tales, where now the usual monster is the persecuted one. We even get a sweet, pseudo-Catholic ceremony in Latin.

The film did not do well at the local box office. Nevertheless, it was highly regarded by influential American film critic Leonard Maltin, who gave it three stars out of four. Although Maltin is often wrong, he might have been right this time -- this one went under the radar, but probably never should have.

Thinly-plotted but fun vampire tale.

Chantal Contouri plays a businesswoman kidnapped by a league of vampires who run a remote farm where mindless humans are routinely harvested for their blood, which is then packaged in milk cartons.

Shirley Cameron wonderfully high-camp performance as a sinister sect insider. Henry Silva and David Hemmings were likely included to help assure the film's box office success but make less of an impression.

Interesting, ambitious take on vampire horror stories is good - if you get past the 70's music and porn-style hair+moustache!! Chantal Contouri is a wealthy young woman who is told she comes from a strong family of vampires...enter a BRAVE NEW WORLD-type scenario in which subjects "donate" blood, which is packaged in milk cartons and delivered to all the vampires living in the outside world. It's overlong, and overdramatic for such a story, but it's worth a look all the same - genre fans should enjoy it, as should fans of Australian film: this was definitely a landmark, as most films released by this country during the late 1970s were either "ocker" (BARRY McKENZIE, ALVIN PURPLE) or "quality" (PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, BACKROADS, DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND). Of course, MAD MAX was released in the same year. Rating: 6/10.