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THE THIRST Review By Col. Scott W. Perry
Vampires are always hard to completely nail down as a genre, yet one that so many filmmakers use as a catalyst for their horror stories. As a screenwriter, there were countless times when I would hear studio inquiries looking for horror scripts and on every one listed there would be in bold print at the bottom: no vampires. Yet even though this is said, it doesn’t deter from films about bloodsuckers being made. Jeremy Kasten’s THE THIRST is a film that is set at a higher standard than some recent films due to its fine genre cast and slick production. It tries too hard but ultimately misfires more than it delivers. Using the backdrop of drug addiction mixed in with a terminal illness, young couple Maxx and Lisa are at the thresholds of despair. Maxx is a recovering addict who attends AA meetings and shows disappointment in Lisa, who he believes has gone back to her drug addled ways by working as a stripper. When it is revealed that Lisa is actually dying of terminal cancer, she makes a decision to live eternally from a visit by a seductive creature of the night (Serena Scott Thomas), who persuades Lisa to take her own life. Maxx, feeling destitute, goes to a rave and to his surprise finds Lisa there, and uncovers a clan of vampires set on desire, flesh, and lust. Soon Maxx gives in to temptation and winds up embracing his newfound immortality with full force, and the pair realize that they are still in touch with the threshold of addiction. As much plot as it tries to deliver, this is strictly a blood and sex film. The vampires spill a lot of blood and I mean gallons. In fact, I’ve never seen this much blood spilled in a vampire film. Gore lovers will definitely love this film. The effects are kind of a hit and mess, well done in some areas but at some times the blood flows a little too perfectly (and looks a little watery in the way it flows). There are many sexual scenes involving the vamps drenched in blood pounding their flesh against each other. In many ways, it is gratuitous and really offers nothing to the story. There was one interesting scene of Maxx and Lisa dealing with their newfound thirst and going through withdrawals very similar to a drug addict going through detox and a scene where the clan invades a strip club was pretty horrific. However, the rest of film didn’t feel coherent enough. The clan turns on Maxx and Lisa for NO reason it felt other than we were coming to the climax of the film, and someone needed to be the protagonist. Maxx is such an unsympathetic character as a human that I felt he was more annoying as a vampire. His selfish demeanor towards Lisa made me wonder why she would show any affection for him in the first place. Clunky dialogue also does this in and the film is heavy in red hues and needless slow motion action setups. I am impressed with the cast assembled for this film (filled with many BUFFY veterans), as for the most part they do the best with what they are given. I get more impressed with Clare Kramer with each project I see her in, and she delivers again as Lisa. It’s a brave performance given the buckets of blood and to make believable her love for Maxx. Matt Keesler was badly miscast in the main role of Maxx, delivering the same flat tone in every emotion. Adam Baldwin, wearing what I think is the same wardrobe from SERENITY, is quite well as Lenny, the Texas vampire from Gaza (?) who mainly just rips apart humans and has fun doing so. Jeremy Sisto, another fine actor, gives it his all and seemed to enjoy his “Dracula” like role as the leader of the clan. It’s good to see that such an accomplished actor like Sisto devotes so much time to independent horror, as he has been a good representative of those who think the genre is just one note. Ellie Cornell, whose Mindfire Entertainment produced the film, has a fine cameo as a nurse in the hospital the terminally ill Lisa stays in before she becomes immortal. In all, I wanted very hard to like THE THIRST, and while there are some decent elements that make it seem fresh, as a whole it just seems like a gratuitous exercise in blood, sex, and gore that probably needed an extra 15-20 minutes to better set up the situations given. If it would’ve done that and not relied on so much blood, it would’ve been a film that would’ve showed that you can make a unique premise out of a time honored tradition in horror. THE THIRST: 4 Out Of 10 Maggots
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