BA_Harrison
A hideous monster is on the prowl in Manila, draining the blood of its victims, all young, female employees at the Barrio nightclub. Local police inspector Miguel Ramos (Filipino regular Vic Diaz) calls in his old friend Adam Rourke (Robert Winston), a smarmy, smart-ass sex crimes expert from the U.S., to help him on the case.With a title like Blood Thirst, one might reasonably expect a gory piece of exploitation schlock, but sadly this is not the case. What we get is more like a noir-ish detective flick (complete with shadowy black and white photography and a sleazy jazz soundtrack), albeit with slight horror elements. This means that for much of the time the film is content to follow Rourke as he investigates the mysterious murders, romances Miguel's sister Sylvia (Katherine Henryk), and gets in a few fist fights, all of which proves very dull.The silly climax sees Serena, a dancer at the Barrio, revealed to be a South American Golden Goddess who possesses the secret to everlasting youth. As Miguel and Adam battle Serena's disfigured helper, they interrupt her ritual—which involves human blood, special herbs, and a chair that harnesses the energy of the sun—causing her to rapidly grow old and disintegrate.
ferbs54
For those connoisseurs of foreign horror films who are desirous of seeing the 1965 Filipino obscurity entitled "Blood Thirst," their only recourse, it would seem, is the DVD currently available from those maniacs at Something Weird. The picture in question shares the disc with another relatively unknown film, the similarly titled "Bloodsuckers," and it was to see this British product of 1970 that I initially rented out this DVD. But "Bloodsuckers" turns out to be a terrible mess of a film, despite the participation of Peter Cushing and Patrick Macnee; an ineptly put-together head scratcher that suffers even more in comparison to "Blood Thirst," a surprisingly good, well-made little chiller that manages to satisfy on all levels. Released in America six years after its Filipino debut, the film features gorgeous B&W cinematography by DOP Hermo Santos and comes off like a film noir crossed with a cheesy horror flick...and with winning results!In the picture, we learn that a serial killer has been slaying young girls on the streets of Manila. Their bodies are always found hung upside down and completely drained of blood, their forearms slit exactly the same length every time. At a loss as to how to proceed, police inspector Miguel Ramos (played by the great Filipino mainstay Vic Diaz, who seems to pop up in just about every Filipino movie that I watch) calls in his American friend Adam Rourke (Robert Winston), a homicide lieutenant who is an expert in sex crimes. Hunky dude Rourke centers his investigations on the Barrio Club, an upscale nightspot where several of the murdered girls had worked. He thus encounters the club's suave owner, Calderon (Vic Silayan, who comes off like a Filipino Cesar Romero), as well as its featured exotic dancer, the blonde hottie Serena (Yvonne Nielson), while being aided by Ramos' sister, the emotionally conflicted Sylvia (Katherine Henryk). As the film proceeds, the viewer learns that the killer is quite a sight indeed; a lumbering mess of a man (?) with a face composed of innumerable lumps and hideous nodules. And as Rourke evades numerous attempts on his life while getting closer to Sylvia, he learns that the solution to this murder mystery might be even stranger than he had guessed....Tightly directed by Newt Arnold, "Blood Thirst" was filmed at the height of the secret-agent craze, the same year that the 007 vehicle "Thunderball" broke box-office records, and its debt to this international spy mania is very pronounced. Winston seems to be channeling Sean Connery in his performance here, and Rourke's similarities with James Bond are many. They are both handsome men with hairy chests; both are chain-smokers, crack shots, quick with a humorous quip and smooth with the ladies. In addition, both go undercover to achieve their objectives in exotic locales, and both are good at karate and brawling...and at taking a punishing beating, as well. Rourke, of course, must contend with a much lesser degree of criminality than superagent 007, and he evinces more of the characteristics of the everyday dude, such as talking to himself and slapping himself on the head when he makes a mistake. Winston gives a highly likable performance here, as does his partner Diaz, a pudgy presence with an angelic smile that can appear as either sweet or diabolic, as the case may be. (For example, the last time I encountered Diaz, it was in the 1971 Eddie Romero film "Beast of the Yellow Night," in which Vic plays the Devil himself!) Rourke's love interest in the film, Sylvia, has been cast most unusually, as Henryk is not pretty in the conventional sense, and yet, because of her appealing nature and spunky disposition, she is a woman who grows more and more attractive as the picture proceeds. I was also happy to spot Bruno Punzalan in this film, here playing the thuggish bartender at the Barrio Club; Punzalan, like Diaz, also seems to pop up regularly in these Filipino outings of the period, and he has a doozy of a dustup with Rourke about halfway through this picture. "Blood Thirst" is well acted by every one of its players and is overall a surprisingly intelligent affair; a film whose noirish elements gradually blend into pure horror by its exciting conclusion, in which blood, "solar electrical energy," and the powder of roots of trees hundreds of years old are all combined in one mind-boggling melange. The film tends to drag a bit in its central 1/3, but it never grows dull, and the stunning-looking B&W photography, artfully employing light and shadow, is always a feast for the eyes. Simply put, the film looks great, and is nicely captured here on this Something Weird DVD. For this viewer, the film comes as something like serendipity; an unexpected treat that I had previously never heard of before. To my great surprise, I must warn viewers AWAY from "Bloodsuckers" and urge them to see "Blood Thirst" instead, a film that is truly ripe for rediscovery....
Uriah43
This is one of those rare films that seems oddly out-of-date. Although this movie came out in 1971 the black and white film, along with the music played during the picture, made it seem like something out of the late 50's or early 60's. The reason for this was the fact that it was initially produced in 1965 by a developing film industry in the Phillipines and not shown to a world-wide audience until six years later. Even so, this wasn't a bad movie by any means. Essentially, attractive women are being killed and drained of blood on the outskirts of Manila. This has the detective in charge, "Inspector Miguel Ramos" (Vic Diaz) so baffled that he calls a friend of his in America named "Adam Rourke" (Robert Winston) to come and help him with the investigation. Things begin to happen very quickly upon his arrival which further convinces him that he is on the right track to solving the case. But time is of the essence as more and more women are being killed. Anyway, I liked the performance of Robert Winston who vaguely reminded me of George Lazenby in the James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". I also appreciated some of the attractive actresses like Katherine Henryk (as "Sylvia Ramos"), Yvonne Nielson ("Serena") and several other uncredited ladies as well. On the other hand, other than possibly Robert Winston, the acting wasn't that great and the special effects for the "bubble-headed monster" were just plain laughable. But all things considered, I still liked it somewhat and therefore have given it an average rating.
