Few movies fit into the dark comedy, horror film and psychodrama category at the same time. “Thirst” is one of them. The latest film by South Korean director Chan-wook Park won the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival but beware, it’s not your typical vampire movie.

This was my first time seeing a Chan-wook Park film and it’ll probably be my last — not because it’s a bad movie per se, it’s just not my type. Let’s face it, just like people have preferences over blondes and brunettes, movie goers have genre preferences and gore is not one of mine. So if you love blood (and not just blood, but blood with plot), “Thirst” is definitely for you.

The film tells the story of Sang-hyun (played by South Korea’s Song-kang Ho), a priest who values life enough to risk his own by volunteering for a secret vaccine development project meant to destroy a deadly virus.

Of course, the virus takes hold of the priest and they’re forced to transfuse blood into Sang-hyun. It just so happens that the blood was infected, leading the priest to turn into a vampire.

“Thirst” starts to pick up when Sang-hyun bumps into a sickened childhood friend and his family, including his friend’s wife Tae-ju (Kim Ok-vin), who asks for the priest’s help in escaping her life. So the once goody-two-shoe priest finds himself embarking into a world of sexual pleasure, committing the Seven Deadly Sins.

Park, who is known for exploring human existence in most of his films, does the same with “Thirst.” He deserves a pat on the back for combining creepy humour with intense emotion which are difficult to pull of separately, let alone together. In fact, I was so engrossed in the film that at certain points, I forgot it was subtitled.

Aside from the visual effects and Park’s unique way of combining sensuality with brutality, the characters are what make this film stand out. It’s clear that the movie’s protagonist goes through a major dilemma and that’s where most of the conflict comes from. But what’s even more interesting is what happens with the supporting characters.

See, there’s no real “good guy” or “bad guy” in this film and that’s refreshing. When you’re about to label a character as the good one, something happens and you’re back to square one. This is the case for most of the supporting characters. Some scripts have difficulty developing their main character but in “Thirst,” most of the supporting characters (especially Tae-ju and her mother-in-law) go through pivotal character changes.

Complements aside, “Thirst’s” main fault (aside from its length) is that it’s more of a niche film (a.k.a for those who really dig horror and by horror I don’t mean “House of Wax”). It’s spooky, fresh and bloody, so those who like gore with context will have a feast with it (Twihards on the other hand may want to sit this one out).

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