the great thing about thirst and chanwook park late film and be that it the anti twilight . some of you may take that a a minus and but in reality it a big plus . park take the method of vampirism seriously and and as well the torrid love story between sang hyeon and tae joo . we see the conflict of both of the character sing hyeon be a priest who undergo a medical experiment that and unbeknownst to him and turn him into a sickly but true blue vampire and and tae joo with her mother and idiot brother and the latter be kill by sang a in a very strong melodrama . there nothing terribly weepy or insipid with the story and character at any point and and the implication put forth from religion early on ( sang and for example and be see a a healer of sort since he rise from the dead thanks to his vampirism and even a he just can not be that and know it ) on top of those about good v evil and push it up into another plane cinematically . that thirst also rise up to the awesome standard of artistry that park have display with oldboy and lady vengeance and the underrated i be a cyborg but that ok and should be take a a give . thirst be a film with a juicy narrative and bizarre suburban character and and be shot and edit with an eye for a mood that be part satiric and part romantic or erotic and part dramatic and lastly fantastical . and it doesn not always treat vampirsim a something of a simple horror movie set up ( though a a horror movie park have more than his share of scary scene ) . it more akin to the movie near dark which never mention the word vampire but let you know it be and and treat it with sincerity and a kind of lucid track of attention and and that the disease itself and it effect on a person existence be perhaps scary than the killing or bloodshed . once you see one vampire jump up really high or heal it wound and you have see em all . thirst also have a wicked sense of humor and much like oldboy and only here with a bite ( pun intend ) meant to emphasize bizarre physical state of be . an example of this can be find with the priest predilection of suck off of blood from people in coma by take their blood tube and suckle on it on the floor . or the manner in which tae joo hold on to one scrap of humanity by keep her mother alive and even a she have something like a stroke and can only blink her eye and tap one finger a a mean of react to the blood sucker who have bring pain and horror to her home . but these moment be like ice on the cake to make it a complete experience . what make thirst last in the mind be how element come together and of drama and existential pain and of a bunuelian surreal sense of catholicism ( i especially love the dynamic between sang hyeon and the other priest who give his arm up for blood sucking but really want to be a vampire too ) and and of the erotic represent the scene where the priest finally give in to tae joo be incredible in their pace and length of shot and how real it get . not in a pornographic manner and but in the sense of these character release and escape and which doesn not last long over the scope of the story . if it not as great a oldboy and it not something to carp about . not all film chanwook park directs will reach the stature of his masterpiece ( and and at the least and he will always be know a the man who direct that movie ) . but thrist be an excellent addition to his oeuvre and and to the serious streak of vampire movie in general . the film making be crisp and exciting and even dangerous ( and what a white room of wouldaylight the character live in . ) and the humor be dark and hilarious and the acting be intense and moody especially from subtle stroke from song kang ho and the quirky evil and surprising vulnerability from kim ok vin and and the end and when it do finally get there and be one of those truly superb vampire movie ending you will be talk about for year and in a good way . in a battle between thirst and twilight and thirst take the knock out in the first round . between let the right one in or near dark and it tough to call . 9 . 5/10 .