''Thirst'' is a 1979 Australian horror film directed by

Rod Hardy Rod Hardy (born in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian television and film director. Career His interest in film began before the age of 12, when he shot several short films on his brother's 8 mm film camera. Rod has over 350 hours of cre ...

and starring

Chantal Contouri Chantal Contouri (born 1950; sometimes credited as Chantal Cantouri, el, Σαντάλ Κοντούρη) is a Greek Australian television and film actress and former dancer, best known for her role in the 1970s soap opera ''Number 96'', as nurs ...

, Max Phipps, and David Hemmings. It has been described as a blend of vampire and science fiction genres, influenced by the 1973 film ''

Soylent Green ''Soylent Green'' is a 1973 American ecological dystopian thriller film directed by Richard Fleischer, and starring Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, and Edward G. Robinson in his final film role. It is loosely based on the 1966 science fict ...

'' as well as drawing on the vampire folklore of Elizabeth Báthory – one of several vampire films in the 1970s to do so.

Plot

Single professional Kate Davis is kidnapped by a shadowy organization known as 'The Brotherhood'. This organization believes her to be a direct descendant of Elizabeth Báthory and claim to be part of an ancient race that consumes blood in order to retain their youth and strength. They have taken her to a hospital-like compound where they clinically 'bleed' brainwashed and hypnotised humans and harvest and consume their blood. Kate is horrified by what she sees and refuses to join, as well as to take one of the Brotherhood as a mate. She manages to steal a truck and flee the compound, but is captured. Kate continues to be unreceptive to the Brotherhood and their practices, leading to them using hallucinogens to break down her resistance. Only one member, Dr. Fraser, is against this treatment as he believes that it will only result in losing her respect for them even if it was successful. Kate is brainwashed and initiated into the cult through a ceremony that involves her using fake metallic fangs to drink the blood of a sacrificial victim. Once home Kate acts as if she has seemingly forgotten all of what has happened, only for her to end up killing a woman in her apartment and drinking her blood. Once back at the compound Kate is still resistant to drinking blood and taking the lives of other humans. In an attempt to make her comply the Brotherhood kidnaps her lover Derek and takes him to the farm. Dr. Fraser helps him escape and seeks out Kate, seemingly in attempt to reunite them, only to reveal he is also descended from a vampire lineage and seeks a union with her. He did save Derek from the farm, but only so he could drain Derek's blood and offer it to Kate. Initially angry at seeing Derek's drained body, Kate's will is finally broken and she submits to Dr. Fraser and the Brotherhood.

Cast

Production

The artists' colony of

Montsalvat Montsalvat is an artists' colony in Eltham, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established by Justus Jorgensen in 1934, the colony is set among gardens on five hectares (12 acres) of land, and is home to dozens of buildings, including ...

north of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

was used as the cult's headquarters. Producer Ginnane had sought out Hemmings and American

Henry Silva Henry Silva (September 23, 1926 – September 14, 2022) was an American actor. A prolific character actor, Silva was a regular staple of international genre cinema, usually playing criminals or gangsters. His notable film appearances include ...

in supporting roles to bolster the film's popularity outside Australia. Producer Antony I. Ginnane followed his then-usual practice of hiring new directors from television by giving the job of directing to

.David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p254

Release

Critical response

Released on 28 September 1979 in Australia, the film did not do well at the local box office. Nevertheless, it was highly regarded by influential American film critic

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

, who gave it three stars out of four. On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film holds a rare 100% fresh rating from 5 reviews.

Home media

Synapse Films Synapse Films is an American DVD and Blu-ray label, founded in 1997 and specializing in cult horror, science fiction and exploitation films. History Synapse Films was owned and operated by Don May, Jr. and his business partners Jerry Chandler ...

released ''Thirst'' on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in October 2008. In 2014,

Severin Films Severin Films is an American film production and distribution company known for restoring and releasing cult films on DVD and Blu-ray. History The label was created in 2006 in Los Angeles, and other offices were founded in New York City and Lond ...

released the film in a

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

and DVD combination set.

References

External links

*
''Thirst''
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national c ...

''Thirst''
at Oz Movies {{Authority control 1979 films 1979 horror films Vampires in film 1970s science fiction horror films Australian horror films 1979 directorial debut films Films shot in Melbourne Films directed by Rod Hardy Films scored by Brian May (composer) Cultural depictions of Elizabeth Báthory New Line Cinema films Australian science fiction horror films 1970s exploitation films Australian splatter films 1970s English-language films