Whilst helping out at a remote village hospital, a young priest named Sang-hyun (Kang-ho) is voluntarily inflicted with a terrible plague in an effort to develop a vaccine. Of the dozens that participated in the test, Sang-hyun is shocked to be its sole survivor following a blood transfusion from an unknown donor. As news of his recovery becomes legend, he fearfully flees to the city, taking with him a newfound thirst for human blood.

Hiding out with the family of an old, dim-witted friend, he struggles to hide the secret that makes him fearful of the daylight. Things become somewhat more complicated, however, when he is lured into having an affair with the dimwit’s wife Tae-ju (Kim), who starts to suffer the same thirst but manages far less control over it.

South Korea has well and truly made its mark as Asia’s leading film producer over the last few years, which has allowed it to come out with a few films that have really pushed their genre boundaries. Thirst is a perfect example. It moves seamlessly from stylish, bleak horror to comedy, and on to the kind of angsty drama that typifies the best vampire flicks (thankfully not the awfully trivialised Twilight sort of teen angst).

Director Chan-wook Park (who found international recognition with the very cool Oldboy) has turned out a magical dark fantasy that will appeal to all manner of viewers.