The Host

An American military base of Yongson releases toxic chemicals in the drain to the Han River under the direct order of an arrogant U. S. Army coroner. Six years later, a large monster appears on the riverbank to munch on fistfuls of passers-by. Stars Park Hee-bong (Byun Hee-Bong), a man in his late 60s. He runs a small snack bar on the banks of the Han River and lives with his two sons, one daughter, and one granddaughter. Hee-bong's elder son Gang-du (Song Kang-ho) is an immature and incompetent man in his 40s, whose wife left home long ago. Nam-il (Park Hae-il) is the youngest son, an unemployed grumbler, and daughter Nam-joo (Bae Doona) is an archery medalist and member of the national team. The enormous monster spreads panic and death, and Gang-du's daughter Hyun-seo (Ko Asung) is carried off by the monster and disappears. Others are also carried to its lair as snacks. Along the way, the motley family takes on lots of difficulties, risks, dangers to rescue the little girl. It is Lurking Behind You !. Man has made his newest predator !. Monsters are real !. You are what it eats !. Out of the darkness, something is ready to start feeding !. It's war!.

This creature feature is South Korea's all-time boxoffice champ to date, having been seen by 14 million of the country's 48 million inhabitants. Containing a ecologist denounce when careless pollution by the US military spawns a huge fleet-footed amphibian thingummy. Constructed around graceful digital effects (courtesy of San Francisco outfit, The Orphanage) , this movie skilfully strings together nail-biting scares , plucky heroism , jet black comedy as a dysfunctional family set aside their differences to rescue their daughter from the beastie's clutches. There'a a misfit group of roles among the family members who hold emotional volatility, but 'The Host' also moves beyond the genre formula, since it's rooted in burning indignation that the working class folk at the centre of events are simply ignored by high-handed authorities in thrall to the Americans -a significant issue in a nation where democracy has recently taken root.

The motion picture was well directed by Bong Joon Ho. He has directed a few but successful films such as : ¨Mother¨ , ¨Tokyo¨ , ¨Parasite¨ ¨Snowpiercer¨(filmed in seventy-two days , this is Joon-ho Bong's first English-language film) and The Host . His filmography is characterized by emphasis on social themes, genre-mixing, black humor, and sudden tone shifts. He first became known to audiences and achieved a cult following with his directorial debut film, the black comedy Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), before achieving both critical and commercial success with his subsequent films: the crime thriller Memories of Murder (2003), and the black comedy thriller Parasite (2019), all of which are among the highest-grossing films in South Korea, with Parasite also being the highest-grossing South Korean film in history; Parasite also became the first South Korean film to receive Academy Award nominations, with Bong winning Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, making Parasite the first film not in English to win Best Picture. The Host rating: 7/10. Better than average.

It's a picturesque afternoon in the park near the river. Kids run gleefully as parents set up picnic lunches and enjoy the sunshine. Young couples lay together on blankets, friends toss a Frisbee - it's just about perfect... except for the giant creature hanging from the bridge.

Parkgoers quickly gather to gape at the mysterious something. They ooh and aah when the great beast slides into to water and eases its way over to the shallows, idling just beneath the surface. No one senses any cause for alarm. They lean closer and toss snacks into the river, as if it's a cute family of ducks.

But ducks don't have teeth like this thing.

The crowd erupts into panic as the monster reveals its lethal force and ravenous appetite. Among the crowd scurrying for their lives are an old food shack owner, his young granddaughter, and her dad. The dad displays his bravery by facing the monster, but he also displays also his imperfections by... well, I won't spoil that part.

Director and writer Bong Joon Ho cleverly details the family's dysfunction through subtle dialogue before the monster chase and in the aftermath. This family is a ragtag group without much clue about what to do, but they are nevertheless relatable and easy to root for.

Though the horror aspect is feature most prominently, the film contains layers beneath the surface for those interested in further examination. Bong Joon Ho manages to weave together elements of a family comedy, social satire, environmental conservation, and of course, a monster horror movie.

This is unequivocally Bong's movie. He expertly directs chase scenes with thrilling camera movements and engrossing framing choices that make you lean forward in your seat with excitement while you also partially cover your eyes in fear. It's a fascinating paradox.

In quieter moments, Bong unveils a novel's worth of background information through a few purposeful conversations between characters. Listen closely or you'll miss important details and have to watch the movie again. You'll probably want to anyway.

I have mixed feelings about this film. On one hand the first attack is one of the best creature feature sequences in film history in my opinion. The curiosity of the public to this big octopus looking creature in the water leading into the sheer panic and dread as the camera pans onto it charging towards the group from a distance without changing camera angles is purely brilliant and horrifying, and the ensuing madness (in particular a scene inside a large container) is truly terrifying to witness. However, after this initial attack, the film slowly devolves into a second rate family drama with less intense and spread out attacks from the continually less intimidating beast. The conclusion nearly wraps up the film but the expectations built up by the first 20 minutes lead to an ultimately disappointing viewing experience. That said, the film is far superior to the majority of Hollywood monster movies and is worth watching just for the harrowing opening scenes, so give it a watch if you're looking for an inconsistent but watchable creature feature.

"The Host" is as deceptive and intriguing as its title (there's currently a 6-page thread in the discussion board and we still haven't figured it out). The movie can be taken as a straightforward monster flick, a dark comedy, a sentimental drama, or a rich socio-political allegory.

For the sake of this review, let's approach it as more than an action/comedy/horror flick, and let's assume it's a deeper allegory. There's definitely a lot of symbolism, lots of cultural references and outright satire for you to munch on. I think that's what makes this seemingly-ordinary monster flick into a powerful film.

Right in the first scene, the director sets the tone with a caricature of Western (U.S.) muddling. Like the excellent Korean film "Welcome to Dongmakgol" released a year earlier, this film is not exactly complimentary toward America, so if that irritates you, you might want to skip this. But when you consider all the 80s Hollywood flicks that painted Russia as a villain, I guess it's fair enough that the USA should take its lumps.

(I did want to add that the director takes a diplomatic approach, mocking the American "establishment" while indirectly praising the American individual. He does this by including an American tourist who's really cool. So in other words, his criticisms are not one-sided.)

The plot is two-dimensional but the symbolic implications are profound. The story is about a monster that terrorizes the banks of the Han River and grabs a young girl, prompting her bumbling family to lead a rescue effort, with no help from the Korean authorities. Some say that the monster represents Western imperialism. It could represent a figurative "attack" on Korean culture, autonomy and sovereignty. Or it could even be taken literally to represent environmental terrors caused by American apathy.

Don't worry, the USA isn't the only target here. There are some pretty good jabs at the Korean authorities too, insinuating (in a way that's both entertaining and irritating) that the Korean government is apathetic & hopeless. "So much for Korea's new democracy," says one character at one point in the film. Some critics point out interesting parallels & allusions to the 1980 Gwangju Uprising (where the Korean Government botched the whole situation, killing & wounding hundreds at a student protest). Everyone is fair game in a dark satire like this. In that respect it reminded me of the excellent Veerhoven scifi satires "Starship Troopers" and "Robocop".

Like all good satires, there's a nice amount of comedy to remind us not to take everything at face value. The bumbling family provides some great laughs in the first half, and certain scenes in the hospital are reminiscent of the sarcastic masterpiece "Brazil" with its merciless mockery of all institutional powers. The scene where they're looking for a virus in a guy's head is both riotously hilarious and profoundly disturbing.

I did want to mention one thing in case you're wondering. No, the audience isn't supposed to feel sympathy for the monster, not like in "King Kong". I was actually surprised at that (in a good way), because the director didn't stray from his message with any gratuitous sentimentality. Normally I'm not a fan of killer animal flicks (Jaws, etc) because I usually find myself siding with the animals more readily than the humans. But this film managed to avoid all sympathies, since the monster itself is a product of human idiocy (which is explained in the first scene).

Well I've just thrown a bunch of ideas at you, and I don't claim any of them to be absolute. But the point is that this seemingly-ordinary horror flick is so much more. It's entirely up to you how you want to see it. Like I said up front, you can just see it as a straightforward monster flick, but I think if you read deeper into the parallels with current Korean society, you'll get a whole lot more out of this.

I happened to watch this tonight at the cinema although I don't speak or understand Korean... let alone Japanese...however it wasn't difficult to grasp the story or get caught up with the characters and the situation.

This film is comical in parts and borders on science fiction, drama and even horror, but it is really fantastic to watch and displays a lot of emotion and realistic reactions. The special effects are excellent, the characters are believable and it is one movie well worth watching even if it is in a different language. There is nothing like a creature from hell to add a bit of excitement to your day....

For the first time ever I knocked over my coke and jumped 6 feet out of my seat when I was suddenly and unexpectedly given the fright of my life....for those of you that like this kind of excitement....be on the watch out for this little gem. (Subtitles would be an idea).

I highly recommend this film and cant wait to buy it and own it on DVD!!!!