The Host

"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.

A release of chemicals into Seoul's Han River has an immediate and deadly impact when a mutation occurs within the animal life. The extent of this is made very clear when a massive creature attacks those enjoying a summer's day in the park. Many are killed, including young Hyun-seo. The military move in, quarantining everyone despite their grief. However Hyun-seo is still alive having been dumped in the creatures layer, deep in the sewer and uses a mobile recovered from another body to contact her father. Nobody believes his claims that his daughter is still alive though, so the family go out to hunt down the creature.

From the plot summary you would be forgiven for believing this to be a simple creature feature and indeed this idea is reinforced by a really stylish and exciting opening twenty minutes. Sadly this is not continued or indeed ever matched as the film seems to have far too many ideas and themes and far too little idea of how to pull them all together into a coherent or engaging story. It happens at the start with a clumsy and obvious "message" scene about pollution but I forgave this since everything from there went so well and the attack on the park was so professionally done. The sense of panic and voyeurism is conveyed convincingly while the action is so exciting. Once past this though we get lots of stuff about military intervention, mistrust of authorities, US intervention in Korea, foreign corporations and the inability of the man in the street to stop (or care about) any of it – or, as my partner described it, "lots of random sh1t". I do not agree with her rather harsh summary because in theory there is plenty of value in the themes and ideas that the film tries to work with and I could even accept it if I had not understood everything because I do not have the Korean frame of reference.

The problem was though that it didn't come together and the allegories and thematic content only served to slow and dull the film while also completely throwing any hope of a consistent tone. So we get suffering thrown up against comedy; horror thrown up against conspiracy; politics thrown up against family threads etc. And none of them merge at all with the end result of a film that constantly had me wondering where it was all going and, more importantly, when was it going to end? The latter question is valid because, with all these ideas the film runs to almost two hours – a trifle if a film engages you but for one this messy and erratic it is far too long a running time for this to carry.

The cast seem as lost as I was at times and their performances vary wildly. They are asked to be real people but yet also expected to carry the poor mix of humour, horror and political meaning and they cannot manage it. Ah-sung has the easiest ride as she is very much in the horror part of the film but the rest (Kang-ho, Hie-bong and Hae-il) has significantly harder roles that they cannot save from the rest of the film. Joon-ho's direction on the action and horror sequences is impressive and it is a shame that he fudges almost every other aspect of it.

The overall result is a horror movie that simply never gets close to the impact of the opening few scenes. The horror is lost in a clumsy and ineffective attempt at wider meaning and at two hours, it is far too long to sustain itself – long outstaying its welcome. Unfortunately this is one Korean film that does not deserve the hype and is only worth seeing for the excellent opening attack sequence.

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!!!!

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.

I just saw this film at the 2006 Melbourne International Film Festival. So invigorating to see a fantasy type film in a great setting on a big beautiful screen. Full house (aprox 400-500 people)Classic old theatre style of The Regent Theatre in the heart of Melbourne city.

What a great surprise to see a quality entertaining monster flick. You might begin to think as I tend to that the rest of your cinema going days will be spent avoiding such appalling Hollywood "Crap-busters" such as Godzilla or (enter current relevant movie here ;-) This film proves that adults can still be taken back...taken back to staring at the silver screen in wonder. It further proves, that a fantasy/adventure monster film can be a serious and funny film at the same time. Formula defying, original, intelligent... comical and sad. Comedy with pathos (just like real life refusing to fit neatly into categories)...very clever film making. Even with the alleged fear of subtitles, I would think there was a massive audience for this film amongst English speaking audiences...if only they would be given the chance to see it. Where's the mainstream distribution in Australia for a film like this? Best special effects and monster effects I've seen in years!