Everyone knows legendary bloodsucker classics like “Nosferatu” or “Dracula” as well as modern blockbusters from “Blade” to “Twilight”. Ironically, relatively few genre fans are familiar with one of the highlights of vampire cinema, which is even included in the official DashFUN list of the best horror films of all time. But that could change today.
“Durst” is now included in the subscription to Amazon Prime Video and can therefore be streamed by all subscribers without any additional costs. Of course we have an unreserved recommendation:
» “Thirst” on Amazon Prime Video*
And anyone who is at least not completely unfamiliar with Korean suspense cinema should know exactly why “Durst” appears in a multitude of different leaderboards at the latest after the following two names: Park Chan-Wook and Song Kang-Ho.
Park Chan-Wook celebrated after Korean cinema hits such as “JSA – Joint Security Area” and “Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance’ his international breakthrough with ‘Oldboy’. Not least thanks to the help of the masterful revenge thriller, Hollywood and the rest of the world have been watching the Korean film landscape with particular suspense ever since – which Song Kang-Ho has also conquered in recent years. Just in front of the camera.
The 55-year-old has worked regularly with Chan-Wook for over 20 years and has also appeared in fantastic blockbusters like The Host, The Good, The Bad, The Weird and Snowpiercer. Of course, Kang-Ho is best known for his role as the head of a starving family in the Oscar-winning Parasite. In “Durst” he is in top form.
Kang-Ho plays a hospital priest who is weary of life and tired of giving dying patients supposedly hope-giving words that don’t change anything in the end anyway. In any case, he lost his faith a long time ago. Nothing in his life is important to him anymore. So he decides without further ado to take part in a medical experiment as a test subject – before he ultimately dies on the operating table…
… and suddenly comes back to life! Celebrated by fanatical Christians, from now on he goes about as a bandaged messiah. But his rebirth has a catch: the blood transfusion that brought him back came from a vampire.
“Durst” is just one of a whole series of proofs that show that hardly any other filmmaker has mastered the balancing act between merciless shocker and art house, between creeping horror and picturesque, almost poetic images as playfully as the Korean. In “Durst” he created a fascinating world with just that mix, the pull of which one can hardly escape. A big movie theater! In any case, with rank 68 in our all-time ranking of the best horror films, he even outperforms films like “Tanz der Teufel”, “Blair Witch Project” or “ES”.
And if you like Thirst anywhere near as much as we do, we highly recommend checking out Park Chan-Wook’s Revenge Trilogy as well. “Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance’ and ‘lady Vengeance” is currently also included in the Prime subscription, the heart “Oldboy” is already available for 2.99 euros.
*The links to the Amazon offer are so-called affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we will receive a commission.
