This Korean monster flick (literally translated as "Monster") was a box-office smash back home, and has received critical adoration the world over. In addition to this, it has been wilfully rejected by horror aficionados, who fail to realise that it was never really aimed at them in the first place.
Concerning the story of a giant mutant tadpole/fish born in the Han River, filled with toxic formaldehyde, its a tremendously entertaining and riveting blend of teen-horror flick gore, human drama and black comedy, with a cunning line in political satire too. Kang-ho Song is terrific as the simple-minded father of Hyun-seo, the little girl kidnapped by the monster and kept in his sewer lair for food. The plot follows him and his family as they attempt to rescue the child, but uniquely the main obstacle in their path is not the monster itself, but the paranoia and bureaucracy that its arrival prompts.
Indeed, the film refuses to conform to any genre stereotypes on a number of levels. Firstly, the monster is not hidden, waiting to be revealed from darkness at the climax (as in virtually all horror films post-Alien and Jaws). Instead, it is shown in broad daylight in full shot right from the start; this does not diminish its impact. Secondly the characters are all deeply flawed, making stupid mistakes (such as miscounting the number of bullets in a gun) that frequently have tragic costs. The film also subverts the notion of 'form a plan, preparation, enactment' by repeatedly throwing in innovative and unexpected plot twists.
As an entire film, The Host in fact feels much more like one of George A. Romero's Living Dead films than other monster flicks from Jaws to Ringu. Nonetheless, it plunders what it wants from these, and creates a truly original and hugely entertaining piece of subversive blockbuster entertainment.
4/5
Concerning the story of a giant mutant tadpole/fish born in the Han River, filled with toxic formaldehyde, its a tremendously entertaining and riveting blend of teen-horror flick gore, human drama and black comedy, with a cunning line in political satire too. Kang-ho Song is terrific as the simple-minded father of Hyun-seo, the little girl kidnapped by the monster and kept in his sewer lair for food. The plot follows him and his family as they attempt to rescue the child, but uniquely the main obstacle in their path is not the monster itself, but the paranoia and bureaucracy that its arrival prompts.
Indeed, the film refuses to conform to any genre stereotypes on a number of levels. Firstly, the monster is not hidden, waiting to be revealed from darkness at the climax (as in virtually all horror films post-Alien and Jaws). Instead, it is shown in broad daylight in full shot right from the start; this does not diminish its impact. Secondly the characters are all deeply flawed, making stupid mistakes (such as miscounting the number of bullets in a gun) that frequently have tragic costs. The film also subverts the notion of 'form a plan, preparation, enactment' by repeatedly throwing in innovative and unexpected plot twists.
As an entire film, The Host in fact feels much more like one of George A. Romero's Living Dead films than other monster flicks from Jaws to Ringu. Nonetheless, it plunders what it wants from these, and creates a truly original and hugely entertaining piece of subversive blockbuster entertainment.
4/5
