Alongside the title character in J Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1872 novella Carmilla, Countess Elizabeth Bathory (1560-1614) is the most famous name in female vampire lore. Although the ‘Bloody Countess’ never drank blood or bathed in it, her dreadful deeds have been the inspiration for dozens of films including the Hammer horror Countess Dracula (1971) and Harry Kümel’s poetic Daughters of Darkness (1971). As fanciful as it might seem for an Australian advertising executive to be the direct descendant of a notorious European psychopath, Thirst extracts plenty of mileage from the premise by making Kate an extremely reluctant heir to the crown. What gives this scene and the whole movie a creepy edge is the depiction of modern-day blood drinkers as anything but crazed nocturnal creatures. Mrs Barker and Dr Gauss are more like corporate spin doctors than vampires as they inform Kate of her exalted standing in their ranks.