Thirst (1979 film)

Unmarried 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, or to take one of the Brotherhood as a mate. She manages to steal a truck and flee the compound but is re-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's 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 that 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 brings him to the farm. Dr. Fraser helps him escape and seeks out Kate, seemingly in an attempt to reunite them. But it's revealed that 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 list|

• Chantal Contouri as Kate Davis
• Max Phipps as Mr. Hodge
• David Hemmings as Dr. Fraser
• Henry Silva as Dr. Gauss
• Shirley Cameron as Mrs. Barker
• Rod Mullinar as Derek
• Amanda Muggleton as Martha
• Christopher Milne as David
• Robert Thompson as Sean
• Lulu Pinkus as Nurse
• Walter Pym as Ditcher

}}

Producer Antony I. Ginnane followed his then-usual practice of hiring new directors from television by giving the job of directing to Rod Hardy.{{sfn|Stratton|1980|p=254}}

Producer Ginnane had sought out Hemmings and American Henry Silva in supporting roles to bolster the film's popularity outside Australia.{{cite web|url=https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/thirst/notes/|title=Thirst (1979)|last=Kuipers|first=Richard|year=2009|work=National Film and Sound Archive|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241208081958/https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/thirst/notes/|archive-date=8 December 2024}} Donald Pleasence was originally considered for Silva's role, but the production could not afford to hire him due to his rising popularity after the success of Halloween (1978).{{sfn|Ginnane|2025|p=27}} Chantal Contouri was cast in the film based on her performance in Snapshot (1979).{{sfn|Ginnane|2025|pages=29–30}}

David Hemmings accepted the role of Dr. Fraser, which Ginnane said he took as he was suffering financial difficulty at the time and needed to work.{{sfn|Ginnane|2025|p=27}}

The film was shot in Melbourne.{{sfn|Ginnane|2025|p=31}} The artists' colony of Montsalvat north of Melbourne was used as the cult's headquarters.

Thirst was released on 28 September 1979 in Australia. New Line Cinema acquired the film for U.S. distribution, giving it a test market release in New Orleans on 25 January 1980.{{sfn|Ginnane|2025|p=35}} On 7 March 1980, it screened at Filmex in Los Angeles, California in a midnight showing.{{cite news|date=7 March 1980|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/simi-valley-star/172638250/|title=Filmex: more film notes|last=Warren|first=Bill|via=Newspapers.com|p=11|work=Simi Valley Star}} It later opened regionally on 9 May 1980 in Lexington, Kentucky.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/lexington-herald-leader/172638658/|work=Lexington Herald-Leader|title=The Family D.I.|date=9 May 1980|p=D-8|via=Newspapers.com}}

Synapse Films released Thirst on DVD in October 2008.{{cite web|work=Synapse Films|title=Thirst [DVD]|date=28 October 2008 |url=https://www.synapsefilms.com/product/thirst/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221121032456/https://www.synapsefilms.com/product/thirst/|archive-date=21 November 2022}} In 2014, Severin Films released the film in a Blu-ray and DVD combination set.{{cite web|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4428thir.html|work=DVD Talk|title=DVD Savant Blu-ray Review: Thirst|date=24 February 2014|last=Erickson|first=Glenn|url-status=live|archive-date=21 November 2022|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221121032656/https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4428thir.html}} Indicator Films released the film on Blu-ray and 4K UHD Blu-ray in limited edition sets in both the United Kingdom and United States on 18 March 2025.{{cite web|url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Thirst-4K-Blu-ray/377785/|work=Blu-ray.com|title=Thirst 4K Blu-ray (DigiPack)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250518154807/https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Thirst-4K-Blu-ray/377785/|archive-date=18 May 2025}}

The film performed poorly at the Australian box office, through Ginnane noted that it did perform slightly better than his previous feature, Snapshot, largely due to exhibition at drive-in theaters.{{sfn|Ginnane|2025|pages=32–33}}

The Sydney Morning Herald panned it as a "B-grade" vampire film, criticising the performance of Contouri as well as Hardy's direction as "bizarre" yet "singularly unthreatening."{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sydney-morning-herald-b-grade-vampir/162141142/|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|title=B-grade vampire cult quenched|p=67|date=4 November 1979|via=Newspapers.com}} Critic Bill Warren, reviewing the film for its opening at the Filmex festival in Los Angeles, felt that "despite a novel premise and some good acting...  the film is basically a failure because the central idea is rather silly."

The film was highly regarded by influential American film critic Leonard Maltin, who gave it three stars out of four.{{sfn|Maltin|2004|p=1405}}

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a rare 100% fresh rating from 5 reviews.

• Cinema of Australia
• Vampire film

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite AV media notes|last1= Ginnane|first1=Antony I. |author-link1=Antony I. Ginnane |date=2025 |work=Thirst| title= Memories of Thirst|location= |publisher=Indicator Films |pages=19–40|type=Supplemental booklet for 4K UHD Blu-ray}}
• {{cite book|last=Maltin|first=Leonard|title=Leonard Maltin's 2005 Movie Guide|publisher=Signet|location=New York City, New York|year=2004|isbn=978-0-451-21481-2|author-link=Leonard Maltin}}
• {{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=Scott|last2=Caputo|first2=Raffaele|year=1993|title=Australian Film 1978-1992: A Survey of Theatrical Features|location=Oxford, England|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-195-53584-6}}
• {{cite book|last1=Silver|first1= Alain|last2=Ursini |first2=James |title=The Vampire Film: From Nosferatu to Bram Stoker's Dracula|year=1993|publisher=Limelight|location=New York City, New York |isbn=978-0-879-10170-1}}
• {{cite book|last= Stratton|first=Dave|title=The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival|publisher= Angus & Robertson|location=Sydney, Australia|year=1980|isbn=978-0-207-14146-1}}

• {{IMDb title|0080016|Thirst}}
• [http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/thirst/ Thirst] at Australian Screen Online
• [http://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/thirst Thirst] at Oz Movies

{{Rod Hardy}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1979 directorial debut films

Category:1979 films

Category:1979 horror films

Category:1970s English-language films

Category:1970s exploitation films

Category:1970s science fiction horror films

Category:Australian science fiction horror films

Category:Cultural depictions of Elizabeth Báthory

Category:English-language science fiction horror films

Category:Films directed by Rod Hardy

Category:Films scored by Brian May (composer)

Category:Films shot in Melbourne

Category:New Line Cinema films

Category:Vampire films

Category:1979 science fiction films