Chan Wook Park's "Thirst" (2009)

[MouthForWar]

[king_ghidorah]

[Dagarah72]

[Destroysall]

[kiryugoji04]

[MouthForWar]

[king_ghidorah]

[MouthForWar]

Yeah, I think you'll dig it. Like I said, it gets kinda disjointed in the middle, but Park comes full circle and wraps everything up nicely in the end. Its a great flick.

And yet, it keeps me wondering how come all the best horror is coming from other countries? Its not that I don't have faith in horror in America... every now and then we'll get something great. I think the Mist is one of the best horror movies of the decade... Midnight Meat Train was fantastic (but still, it had a foreign director)... heck, this year alone had District 9 (yes, its a horror movie), and Drag Me To Hell. But it just seems like America has a million horror movies come out every year and there's 1 or 2 that are any good if we're lucky. And films like the Mist and Drag Me To Hell are all by seasoned vets... we need some new horror film makers stirring things up.

I wanna see some real new blood in American horror. Guys doing something fresh and taking it to the next level. Where are the new Cronenbergs, Romeros, Raimis, and Carpenters? Its certainly not Eli Roth, Alexandre Aja, Rob Zombie (who even has some work I enjoy), Platinum Dunes, or the "Saw" guys. It seems like the only guys taking things to the next level are foreigners like Guillermo del Toro, Tomas Alfredson, Chan Wook Park, etc.

Not only that, but it seems like more and more of the great, more original American horror movies are going straight to DVD or in limited release or dollar theaters (see: Midnight Meat Train, Trick r Treat, Grace, etc.) There's still some more stuff to look forward to in the coming months like Grace, Clive Barker's Book of Blood, Clive Barker's Dread, Hisss, Trick r Treat, and hopefully Splice... but guess what? None of those are getting a wide release, and I think Dread (and hopefully Splice) are the only ones getting any kind of theatrical release. So sad.

[king_ghidorah]

I think it boils down to with the exception of a few like Gullermo...most of them aren't fan boys and are legitiment arteurs...and the other pile you mentioned...well they are mostly fanboys...guys who think the original Friday the 13th is a good movie ect..I'm just saying that while it's ok to consider something a personal favorite, sometimes liking a genre so much blinds you as to what is actually good...the guys you mention make pretty decent homages...but that's all they are..homages...

Fanboys don't always make the best artists because they stick to closely to what's been done..or just to the genre itself

Think about if fanboys got creative control of the next Godzilla movie..it'd probably have Bagan in it, be nothing but kaiju action and totally alieniate a non-fan audience...but granted there are some people who transend this...maybe 1 in 100 who can be fans but distance themselves enough from their love a particular genre to see what needs changed and how to make it appealing to the mass public

BTW...Splice's release doesn't look good..hope for the best though, also, I just saw Wrong Turn 2 becuase of hearing so much about Joe Lynch...this guy has potential I think, judging from one film at least..he pays homage and also turns some aspects of the genre on its head..making an entertaining and gross splat flick

[MouthForWar]

[king_ghidorah]

[jellydonut25]

[MouthForWar]

[king_ghidorah]

[MouthForWar]

Great job on the comments, KG.. Only I have to disagree a bit with your assessment of Miike's work. He has about 4 horror movies, and the rest are all crime/gangster dramas with a few exceptions (a western, a musical, etc.) thrown in. I honestly don't know why or how he is considered a "horror guy" here in the US... even he doesn't understand how that happened. But yes, his work is NOTHING like Park's and Ichi and Oldboy couldn't be more different. Miike's most Park-like film is probably Audition, but even that is stretching it a bit. I enjoy both directors but it really is apples and oranges.

I agree with the Hitchcock + Cronenberg assessment, and in the case of Thirst, there's definitely some Raimi in there also... but the best thing about Park is that, while he wears his influences proudly, his films are all unique to his own style.

My favorite vampire films:

-Nosferatu- This movie is STILL creepy as hell and its almost 100 years old. The vampire here is one of the scariest monsters of all time and manages to gives me chills every time I watch it. Most modern horror movies fail to do that for me.
-Dracula (1931)- THE classic vampire movie... obvious choice. Bela was the master!
-The Hammer Dracula series- Pretty much untouchable as far as vampire movies go. How can it get any classier than Horror of Dracula?! Even the less appreciated Satanic Rites of Dracula is bliss to my eyes! Christopher Lee brought Dracula to a whole new (and very pissed off) level and Peter Cushing will always be the most badass Van Helsing ever.
-Toho's Dracula Trilogy- Kind of like a poor man's Hammer films, but still fun.
-Last Man On Earth Vincent Price stars in the best and most faithful adaptation of Richard Matheson's amazing novel, I Am Legend. Vampires have taken over the world and bad ass Vincent Price kills em! Matheson's novel and this film both served as big inspirations on Night of the Living Dead.
-Martin- One of the most original and compelling vampire tales. Romero does for the vampire what he did for the zombie and reinvents the wheel here.
-Rabid- Early Cronenberg... not sure if I'd call it a vampire movie, but the main character needs blood, so I included it. 28 Days Later owes its overrated existence to this film and David Cronenberg (as well as Romero)
-Cronos- Guillermo del Toro's first feature and a totally new approach to vampirism
-Blade II- Yet another Guillermo del Toro movie. del Toro takes everything that was cool about the first Blade and amps it up to 11. Also, the evolved "Reaper" vampires are super cool and original! This movie is everything that all other action-horror movies want to be, but none even come close.
-The Monster Squad- Although Dracula is only one of the many classic monsters in this movie, I just HAD to include it. I loved this movie since I was a kid and I still love it! This is a real Universal Monster reunion, unlike Van Helsing. One of the most entertaining movies you could ask for.
-From Dusk Till Dawn- I'm hardly a Tarantino or Rodriguez fanatic... both are overrated and very hit and miss with me, but this movie is just pure gorey fun! It starts off as a crime drama and turns into a crazy b-movie... also Salma Hayek's dance is probably the sexiest thing ever put on film and she doesn't even take her clothes off! This scene single handedly made me hit puberty.
John Carpenter's Vampires- Screw the haters, this is a FUN movie. Although the fades get annoying and the acting is spotty, its a good time and James Woods is hilarious and bad ass. Would make a great double bill with From Dusk Till Dawn. It may be one of Carp's weaker films, but I'll take a weak Carpenter film over the majority of the crap coming out now (even Ghosts of Mars, which I actually don't even think is his worst film). Carpenter rules.
-Let The Right One In- A classy, fairy tale like film that has the subtlety of Cronenberg and the innocent and surreal chaos of del Toro.
-Thirst- Since we're in the thread for this movie, I don't feel I need to say any more... it rocks.

[jellydonut25]

i hope to watch this this weekend as i just got it myself...

[Destroysall]

[MouthForWar]

[kiryugoji04]

I have only seen one of this director's films - I'm A Cyborg But That's Okay - and it was merely okay at best. Beautiful imagery though. Maybe I'll watch it again one of these days. I take it his other films are worth checking out?

[MouthForWar]

[DannyBeane]

[Flame of Udin]

[kiryugoji04]

[jellydonut25]

[MouthForWar]

Well each sex scene has a purpose. The first is the failed attempt and its a big step forward in the character development, almost an innocent, humorous scene. The second is their actual sex as a couple, them "making love" if you will... and the third is after they've been torn apart by this terrible murder they committed and there's no going back to the way things were (with the specter of the murdered man literally in between them). Their relationship is pretty much down the sh*tter there. Each one served an important purpose and they each stand for specific turning points in the relationship, different "phases" if you will. They aren't exploitative at all and are vital building blocks in the narrative.

And for me, its still gone undefeated as my #1 of 09. Keep in mind I base these things on how much I get out of the film personally (in terms of entertainment and rewatchability) than what's objectively better or worse, and Thirst is the movie I enjoyed most the past year. Yeah, the Hurt Locker is probably the better film, but Thirst is a movie I can watch over and over, pretty much any time I feel like watching a movie. To me, that is what makes Thirst better for me... I simply get more out of it.