Blood Thirst
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2008-06-17T01:51:13Z
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{{Infobox Film
| name = Blood Thirst
| image =
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| director = [[Newt Arnold]]
| producer = Newt Arnold
| writer = N.I.P. Dennis
| narrator =
| starring = Yvonne Nielson<br />Robert Winston<br />Judy Dennis
| music =
| cinematography =
| editing =
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| released = [[1971 in film|1971]]
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| country = [[U.S.A.]] / [[Philippines]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| budget =
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| amg_id =
| imdb_id = 0066847
}}
'''''Blood Thirst''''', also known as ''Blood Seekers'' and ''The Horror from Beyond'', is a 1971 [[Horror film]] directed by Newt Arnold and shot in the [[Philippines]]. It tells of an American [[detective]] investigating a series of [[vampire|vampiric]] murders linked to a [[Manila]] [[nightclub]].
The film starred Robert Winston as detective Adam Rourke. Winston bore a strong resemblance to actor [[Anthony Perkins]], and he brought a jokey, swaggering presence to the film. He spends much of his screen time swilling [[cocktail]]s, shooting shadowy [[villain]]s, and seducing his female lead, actress Judy Dennis, a haggard [[Audrey Hepburn]] [[doppelgänger]] who never appeared in another film. Winston's tough-guy character is somewhat sabotaged by a pronounced [[lisp]], and his character's habit of engaging himself in extended quizzical [[monologue]]s, which Winston does with a lopsided half-smile, makes his limning of Rourke decidedly [[Eccentricity (behavior)|eccentric]].
The film's plot, scripted by N.I.P. Dennis in his only listed film credit, is frequently nonsensical, involving a [[South America]]n [[belly dance]]r, played by Yvonne Nielson, who has uncovered an ancient [[Aztec]] secret for eternal life, involving regular [[blood transfusion]]s. To this end, she has enlisted the aid of a Filipino club owner whose visage turns monsterous when he is stalking his prey; his character makeup here bears an uncanny resemblance to the makeup for [[Troma]]'s [[Toxic Avenger]].
The film features lush black and white photography in the tradition of American [[Film noir|noir]], including a near [[chiaroscuro]] obsession with light and shadow that is unexpectedly effective. ''Blood Thirst'' also relies on a canned [[jazz]] score that too-often sounds like [[burlesque]] compositions. A scene in which Judy Dennis creeps through an underground [[dungeon]] is undermined by a [[Little Egypt (dancer)|Little Egypt]]-style bump and grind number.
''Blood Thirst'' was reportedly filmed in the 1960s but not released until the early 70s, where it mostly played the American [[grindhouse]] circuit, where it must have looked terribly dated alongside such lurid [[Exploitation film|exploitation]] [[auteur]]s as [[Herschell Gordon Lewis]].
==External links==
* {{imdb title|id=0066847|title=Blood Thirst}}
[[Category:1971 films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
{{1970s-horror-film-stub}}