The Host
2006, South Korea
A korean monster movie starring Kang-ho Song, and directed by Joon-ho Bong? Oh I was very, very excited and awaiting the release of this film for some time.
So, the plot goes that an American doctor working in Korea orders the pouring of formaldehyde down the sink, into the sewer system, and on into the Han river. For some reason, this creates a giant man eating mutant that goes on a rampage, either killing or injuring lots of people, and the government and American military baricade off the scene, and intern anyone who’s come in contact with the beast, because of a deadly virus.
It’s an incredibly refreshing film, in the sense that the term “Monster movie” is almost always used in reference to a low-budget B-movie, possibly something that would be refered to as ‘So bad, it’s good’ in an endearing kind of way. But not The Host, as it delivers in a way that basically every other film of the genre seems to promise, and fall flat on. The title monster (Or is it the title monster at all? It doesn’t really seem too clear on what “The Host” is refering to, as the film is called “Gwoemul” in Korean, which means “Monster” or so I’m led to believe.) rampages around in scenes that are filled with excitement and tension, and I got a fantastic sense of glee watching it wreak havoc.
Moreover, the film focuses on a family who have lost their youngest to the creature, and go to hunt it down themselves. Lesser films would probably focus on the military in charge of the situation, but we’re treated to a bunch of very human characters, whereas the norm would be to have a cast of disposable fodder. It’s rare to find a film like this where you actually feel for the characters, and this was certainly one.
One thing I found quite interesting was the fact that there were a few American actors who did quite well in their roles, especially Scott Wilson in the opening sequence, who plays the ignorant git responsible for the mutant. I’ve seen a couple of Asian films where there’s some American characters, and it seemed that they were either the worst actors on the planet, or they simply weren’t taking the filming any way seriously. Thankfully, all the actors involved were good.
My only criticism would be that towards the end, a lot of the plot seemed to be very unclear about certain details. But as an incredibly enjoyable horror romp, I couldn’t really ask for more, even if it’s quite flawed. Definetly not as good as Joon-ho Bong’s previous masterpiece, Memories Of Murder, but a great film in it’s own right.
Source: moviesfilmsandmotionpictures.blogspot.com
