As the latest Twilight fan-fic opens nationwide, it seems only fitting that I finally get around to writing something about a South Korean vampire film I watched a few weeks ago at The Uptown Theatre. Now most people know director Park Chan-wook for his Vengeance trilogy (Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance) or possibly for his segment from the horror film Three Extremes making him one of the better known foreign language film makers in the US. So when I heard he’d be making a vampire film, I was excited at the possibilities, but I got something I never expected.

Thirst follows the story of a priest who undergoes an experimental treatment, during the course of which a blood transfusion transforms him into a vampire. Soon he discovers that if he doesn’t feed, that his disease will return, thus he must soon abandon his morality in order to survive. But that is scarcely his furthest fall.

You see, our priest has a secret, he’s in love with his friend’s wife. And his hunger isn’t simply for blood, but for other things just as carnal. Thus, our intrepid hero must slowly abandon his faith in order to satiate his growing desires. And that’s when Thirst truly blossoms into a modern masterpiece of film making.

While Thirst is a morality play to be sure, and it is full of horror elements, at its heart it is a romance, though a very twisted and dysfunctional one to be sure. As our priest falls deeper in love with the woman of his desires, he makes a rather foolish step that propels the two of them into an unending struggle for dominance of their lives, their relationship and of their hunger.

Following in the footsteps of last year’s outstanding vampire film Let the Right One In, Thirst creates complex and realistic characters that are thrust into worlds they can scarcely imagine let alone control, try as they might. These are people with faults and flaws, and simply craving the taste of blood won’t change that, but it just might amplify their flaws. Thirst simply isn’t just the best vampire movie of the year, its one of the year’s best movies, period.

Tags: film, Foreign, foreign language, Horror, horror film, lady vengeance, Let the Right One In, movie, Movies, oldboy, Park Chan-wook, South Korea, sympathy for mr vengeance, The Uptown, The Uptown Theatre, Thirst, three extremes, trailer, Twilight, vampire, vampire film, vengeance trilogy

Just when you thought Twilight was all the ladies needed to get their fill of pre-teen vampire lust, along comes the next in what promises to be an excruciatingly long line of films showcasing pale, unemotional vampire’s to the fairer sex.

That’s right, The Vampire’s Assisstant, a book that I know nothing about, which is being adapted into a movie that I only know a scant bit more information, is being made into a movie. Judging by the one sheet it is being released on October 23rd, who knew? Evidently the film (and possibly the book though I will be sure not to double check) is about a boy who meets a vampire and decides he wants to be one himself. A circus is somehow involved as well, though I don’t care enough to research why.

I do know this, the fuzzy camera phone picture I took of the one sheet (somehow still not leaked to the movie blog masses) should be just enough to get Marina at Row Three squirming in that particular way that makes everyone around her uncomfortable. You’re welcome Marina and my apolagies to everyone else.

Tags: circus, film, films, Marina, movie, one sheet, pre teen, Row Three, The Vampire's Assisstant, Twilight, vampire, vampires

Anna and I had an interesting conversation about people’s taste in movie earlier this week. You see we have a mutual friend that has rather eclectic taste. She’ll swing from one end of the pendulum to the next with ease, investing time and money in enjoying dreck like Twilight yet turn right around and revel in Let the Right One In. Oh sure she feels guilty by many of the things she watches (her music and reading taste tends to be just as “diverse”) she lessens that guilt by enjoying plenty of high brow fare.

Now I have taken the position that I don’t care if someone wallows in the occasional awful film, so long as they routinely balance that out with more challenging and inventive fare. I know I find that kind of see-sawing viewing habits is far more stimulating then continually watching all to often pretentious art films for hours on end.

Anna takes a slightly different approach in that there are only two kinds of films she enjoys. This includes the rare guilty pleasure (these typically involve demons or possession or demon possession) and films that she loves unconditionally. In between is a wide range of films that may or may not waste her time but certainly waste her money.

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