The Host
Directed by: Bong Joon-ho
Written by: Bong Joon-ho, Hah Joon-won, Baek Chul-hyun
Starring: Song Kang-ho, Byun Hie-bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doo-na, Ah-sung Ko

When I first heard about The Host I have to admit I was a bit reluctant to give it a chance. My interest in Asian horror movies has been starting to wane as of late; they all seem to be recycling the same elements over and over again, only to get watered down even further when the inevitable American remake hits theatres. Thankfully, The Host is an entirely different beast (pun intended). It is refreshing in many ways and well worth taking the time to see if you have access to it.

The Host capitalizes on current Korean societal fears in much the same way that Godzilla was born out of Japan’s post-Atomic Bomb perspective. In 2000, the U.S . military dumped a large amount of formaldehyde down the drain in South Korea, causing an environmental scare in the Han River. This incident forms the basis for the movie, posing the question: what if these chemicals somehow manifested themselves in a massive mutated fish monster? Clearly you can tell from the concept that it’s not meant to play entirely straight, and indeed there are a lot of comedic moments in the film that may confuse some viewers who are unsure when and when not to laugh. At the same time, there is a certain level of seriousness in the film, and like a lot of Asian horror films it borders on melodrama at points. This strikes a weird tone overall, but it still makes for an enjoyable ride in my opinion. One thing is for sure: there are plenty of moments where the film goes in delightfully unexpected directions, and there are still some decent scares to be had.

The most important difference between this movie and other “J-Horror” flicks you may have seen is that it’s more of a creature feature than anything else, a style of scary movie we simply don’t see enough of nowadays. Everything lately is all serial killers and pissed off ghosts seeking revenge, but this gets back to the days when a guy in a rubber suit could really scare the crap out of people. Not that there are any rubber suits involved here. The monster is primarily done through CGI, although there is some close-up animatronics work as well. The movie had a pretty huge budget by Korean standards ($10 million) that puts it a step above typical b-movie fare, and the effects are generally quite impressive even if some of the CGI was a bit inconsistent. (Interesting to note that although the film is Korean, the effects were done by San Francisco production house The Orphanage, the same people who did the effects for The Day After Tomorrow, and WETA was involved in creating the monster.)

One of my few complaints with this movie is how little build up there was to the reveal of the monster. Within the first ten minutes of the movie he is out on a rampage and in full view, which throws out a lot of opportunity for suspense in the film, but at the same time, it makes it clear that the movie is about spectacle and the monster is the star of the show. It also establishes the mood of widespread panic and imminent disaster.

The movie broke box office records in Korea, and it is definitely a story that will resonate strongest with native Koreans, but it’s not by any means incomprehensible to the rest of us (assuming you can read subtitles). There is a lot of political commentary underneath it all, particularly in how the government deals with the crisis in the movie and the whole “virus” conspiracy. The portrayal of the U.S. military at the beginning of the film also caused some minor controversy, but it seemed obvious to me that it was more satire than anything else.

In the end, I think The Host proves itself to be a classic monster movie in its own right, on par with some of the greats from over the years like Jaws, Godzilla, and Alien. Such a comparison may seem out of line, but the movie aims to be epic and that’s exactly what it is. Any of its flaws and inconsistencies are easy to write off in light of the fact that it maintains a sense of humour, but ultimately it still manages to stay true to its message and leaves you shaken by its conclusion. That’s not an easy thing for any movie to pull off, much less one hampered by cultural barriers. — Sean

SCORE:

Recommended If You Like: Tremors, Jaws, War of the Worlds, Deep Blue Sea

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