Jump to the good stuff: The Story | Some Thoughts | The Final Verdict
The Story:
Thirst is an Icelandic horror movie about a gay vampire and the woman who befriends him.
When Hulda (Hulda Lind Kristinsdóttir) is a suspect in her brother’s death, she gets detained by the police and questioned. Although detective Jens (Jens Jensson) doesn’t believe she’s innocent, he must release her due to lack of evidence. After being set free, Hulda wanders the streets looking for food and a place to sleep. She runs into two punks assaulting an older man and rushes in to protect him. However, the man is a thousand-year-old vampire, Hjörtur (Hjörtur Sævar Steinason), who does not need protecting. He quickly kills his assailants and bites off their penises, leaving Hulda unscathed.
Once again Hulda gets dragged into the police station for questioning, then released. She tries to purchase a hotdog but is refused service when her credit card is declined. Seeing the interaction, Hjörtur waits for her to leave and then bites the man who refused her service. He then finds Hulda sitting on a park bench and hands her a hotdog. When she asks him why he’s giving her the food, he tells her because nobody has ever been nice to him.
As Hulda and Hjörtur become friends, Jens’s wife, Ester (Ester Sveinbjarnardóttir), is convinced that the Prince of Darkness is walking the streets and is determined to save the town.
Some Thoughts:
Thirst is a horror/comedy with no suspense, awful special effects, and very little humor. The story is intentionally ridiculous and Hjörtur, who has a dirty side and doesn’t hold back when it comes to ogling men, is not your typical vampire. And as enjoyable as that sounds, it isn’t enough to elevate this movie.
The biggest problems with Thirst are that there’s no tension and it recycles the same penis joke. It also doesn’t help that the special effects aren’t great, especially the penises, which are dildos covered in fake blood with hair pasted to them. This wouldn’t be an issue if the movie had some suspense or humor, but it doesn’t.
There’s also a religious group headed by Ester that’s searching for the Prince of Darkness, but it never finds its footing. Religious sects/groups looking to stomp out evil is the type of thing that horror movies use to build suspense and often hint at a final confrontation. Sadly, it didn’t pan out the way I had hoped.
Although Thirst is not a good movie, I was entertained by the sheer awfulness of it.
The Final Verdict:
Thirst is a horror/comedy that is neither scary nor funny. While the story sounds fun, the execution has a lot to be desired.
