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ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - September 28th

"THIRST" released in Australia in 1979

An ancient descendant of the infamous Elizabeth Bathory is abducted by a shadowy organization known as The Brotherhood, who attempt to persuade her to embrace her bloody heritage, in the Ozploitation cult classic, Thirst!

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Kate Davis (Chantal Contouri) seemingly has an idyllic life - she is beautiful, wealthy, and has a handsome architect boyfriend, Derek (Rod Mullinar). But little does she know that she is being constantly watched by a shadowy organization known as the Brotherhood. Kate's activities are discussed at great length at a gathering of the Brotherhood's senior member, among them the idealistic Dr. Fraser (David Hemmings), who disagrees with his colleagues  - Dr Gauss (Henry Silva), Mrs Barker (Shirley Cameron), Mr Hodge (Max Phipps) - that they should force Kate into a "conditioning" program. The group reluctantly relent to Fraser's wishes, and the next morning Kate is drugged and later awakens at the Q.A.S.T.A. Research Facility. When Kate awakens, she is confronted by Barker and Gauss who explain that Kate is a long-lost descendant of the infamous Countess Elizabeth Bathory and that she has been chosen to join the Brotherhood as the new Baroness. Later, Barker and Hodge matter-of-factly explain to Kate they are all modern day vampires (with over 70,000 of them all over the world) and urge her to join them of her own free will. Kate proves resistant to their constant attempts to persuade her join and Barker and Gauss eventually lock Kate in a room with only a tiny hole through which to view the outside world (as it was done to her ancestor). Furious at the others, Fraser releases Kate from her cell and lets her freely walk among the grounds. Kate discovers the research facility is actually a human farm, where "blood cows" (aka humans) have they blood harvested by attaching them to giant milking machines. Their blood is then packaged inside ordinary milk containers and distributed to Brotherhood chapters all over the world. Terrified, Kate tries to escape, but she is quickly recaptured and sent back to the farm. That night, Kate is woken by a strange chanting coming from the chapel. Peeking through the window, Kate witnesses an elderly vampire drinking the blood from the neck of a young blood-cow and screams. Barker is not pleased, and against Fraser's advice, decides to proceed with the conditioning. Kate is subjected to a series of drugs that induce mind-bending hallucinations, and after several days it appears the conditioning has worked. That night Kate is initiated into the cult and willingly feasts on a bloodcow with ornamental silver fangs. The Brotherhood is impressed with Kate's conversion, but Mrs Barker wants to make sure that Kate's indoctrination will hold up in the outside world, and sends her home to drink the blood of Derek, who has just returned from the United States. Despite her newfound legacy, will Kate be able to resist harming the man she loves, or will the "old thirst" prevail in the end!

TRIVIA:   This film is notable for it's shower scene in blood. The sequence, which overlays Marnie (1964) with the shower scene from Psycho (1960), was dominant in the film's promotional materials, featuring prominently on the film's original theatrical poster as well as video covers.

Top:   Kate (Chantal Contouri) tries to resist the many tricks of the Brotherhood to get her to embrace drinking human blood;

Above:   Brotherhood scientists, Fraser (David Hemmings) and Guass (Henry Silva) are divided on the how to persuade Kate to join them

Widely considered Australia's first serious attempt at making a modern vampire film, Thirst was produced at the height of the Australian New Wave era that saw a rise in popularity of Australian films, particularly in the United States, and produced nearly 400 films between 1970 and 1985 (more than had been made in the history of the Australian film industry!). Within the this film revival emerged another genre, the Ozploitation films - a category of low-budget horror, comedy, and action films made after the introduction of the R rating in 1971. One such filmmaker, producer Antony I. Ginnane, who had previously  established a small distribution company, Studio Films, for  imported art house and exploitation films, decided to make the move into film production and quickly made the hugely profitable softcore pornographic films, Fantasm (1976) (which featured renowned porn actor John Holmes), and it's sequel, Fantasm Comes Again (1977). Ginnane's early success led him to move on to more genre driven films, and produced the cult classic horror film Patrick (1978).

For his next project, Ginnane selected the screenplay for the Thirst as his next project, with screenwriter John Pinkney basing his screenplay on stories which had been written as part of a book entitled Instant Terror. Ginnane followed his then-usual practice of hiring new directors from television, giving the job of directing to Rod Hardy, and importing actors with international recognition from Britain and the United States to play supporting roles to bolster the film's popularity (and sale-ability) in markets outside Australia. For Thirst, Ginnane cast foreign actors Henry Silva and David Hemmings in the roles of Dr Gauss and Dr Fraser respectively. Hemmings once said of this film during filming: "This crew is the best I've worked with in five years. What is happening out here in Australia is very exciting and I plan to become involved...I thought the script for Thirst was very commercial and had the potential for international success", while Silva once said of being cast in this movie: "I love traveling. That and the script were the reasons I decided to come to Australia". Although normally imported American or British actors would have received top or higher billing, both stars have billing down the cast order, at fourth and sixth.

TRIVIA:   Thirst had a small devoted section in the documentary, Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)

Top:   The secret of the Q.A.S.T.A. Research Facility - a blood farm for harvesting human blood!;

Above:   An elderly vampire is about to feast on a "blood-cow" 

Local actors rounding out the cast were Shirley Cameron, Max Phipps, Rod Mullinar, Amanda Muggleton and Robert Thompson (who played the titular role of Patrick in Ginanne's last film). Lead actress Chantal Contouri, who plays this movie's central character and protagonist Kate Davis, had also previously worked with Ginnane on a previous horror film, the not yet released One More Minute (1979) (which starred Sigrid Thornton). Contouri had also famously played nurse Tracey Wilson, a sado-masochist and serial killer, the infamous "Pantyhose Strangler", in the TV soap opera Number 96. For the estate premises of the headquarters of the secret vampire cult the Hyma Brotherhood, the production filmed on location at an artists colony north of Melbourne, Victoria known as Montsalvat. While filming Dr Gauss' death scene, the Department of Civil Aviation banned a stunt where he falls to his death from a helicopter, landing on a number of stobey-pole electric cable wires whereupon he is vividly electrocuted. But despite the ban, filmmakers shot the scene anyway with the combination of a stuntman and life-size dummy.

Released on 28 September 1979 in Australia (and a day later in the United States), Thirst did not do well at the local box office, but was highly regarded by influential American film critic Leonard Maltin, who gave it three stars out of four. Review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes consensus was, "Fans of the genre will most likely enjoy this different take on a classic tale and there are plenty of scares that abound on-screen that are guaranteed to terrify you. This is a truly original yarn that is entertaining from start to finish, and despite some minor flaws, it is a terrific horror film that is a must see for genre fans. Rod Hardy's direction is great, and he knows to craft a solid, atmospheric vampire film that is engaging from start to finish. What is wonderful with this film is that it pushes the genre into new, unexplored territory and succeeds at creating something quite different and original in the process".

Above:   Encouraged by Mr Hodge (Max Phipps), Kate embraces her destiny as the descendant of Elizabeth Bathory!

Antony I. Ginnane would go to produce another ten films during the New Wave period, including Harlequin (1980), Dead Kids (1981) and Turkey Shoot (1982), and work with actor David Hemmings on two further pictures, this time with Hemmings in the director's chair, The Survivor (1981) and Treasure of the Yankee Zephyr (1981). As the Australian Cinema Revival came to close in the late-80's, Ginnane would eventually produce nearly 70 films in Australia and the United States in a career spanning 46-years, as well as heading the Screen Producers Association of Australia from 2008 to 2011.

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE:   N/A 

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