Thirst

Vampires: they're so damn hot these days. Between the emasculated teen sucklers in Twlight to the deadly little vamp in the transcendent Let the Right One In, there's a vampire flick for everyone. And it's definitely exciting to see Korean filmmaker Chan-Wook Park (of Old Boy and Sympathy for Mr Vengeance fame) sink his teeth into the genre.

Sang Hyun, Thirst's protagonist, is a caring priest. So caring he volunteers for an experimental vaccine that could save millions… except thatit kills him. In a last-ditch effort to save Hyun the doctors give him a transfusion, but it's contaminated with vampire blood. Hyun must now balance his priestly convictions with his unholy desire to suck blood, cuckold, and drown old friends.

Thirst doesn't reach the same heights of suspense as other films in Park's oeuvre, and what really should have been a good tight film plods along in a nauseating mess of gore and heavy breathing. However, it's always refreshing to see vampirism in a new setting, and Park tells his story of how an undeathly presence can infect the souls of a humble family in his distinctively confronting and visceral style.

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