Mike Flanagan Counts This Underrated Vampire Film as an All-Time Favorite
Mike Flanagan is a prolific creator with a knack for building tension and a universal appeal. His films are commercially viable enough to sell out a multiplex, but his work has enough depth to win over film critics. Achieving either of those distinctions is massive but to accomplish both is borderline sorcery.
Flanagan is truly a student of cinema. The director understands the craft of filmmaking and has exquisite taste. Naturally, we are always quick to check out any film the celebrated director champions. I recently uncovered a tweet where the Hush director listed his top five vampire films. The majority of his picks are relatively well-known. But the one that stands out to me is Park Chan-wook’s Thirst.
The setup of Thirst is as follows:
Sang-hyun is a Christian priest who, in order to help find a cure, volunteers to be infected with a virus that’s devastating Africa. He’s left with an intense craving for blood and sex. As a hospital visitor, he can quench his thirst for blood, and an intense affair with unhappily married Tae-ju provides him with a sexual outlet. As their relationship develops, Sang-hyun is left struggling to hang on to his old morality.
The flick deals in some pretty heavy subject matter and lacks the levity of classics like Fright Night or The Lost Boys. But it needs to be seen. It’s also one of the sexiest horror films, full-stop, as the relationship between Sang-hyun and Tae-ju blossoms into something beautiful and horrific. If you haven’t had the occasion to take this one in, you’ll want to be sure to slot in a viewing when you have some extra emotional bandwidth.
Flanagan’s top five vampire films (in order) are:
- Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
- Thirst
- Only Lovers Left Alive
- Let the Right One in
- What We Do in the Shadows.
That’s a pretty spectacular list with some fantastic selections within. But considering the source, that’s no surprise.
That’s all we’ve got. Stay tuned to the site for more recommendations from the masters as we learn them. And be sure to follow Dread Central on Twitter so you never miss an update.
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