The Host

I finally got a chance to watch the much lauded South Korean monster movie “The Host” the other day and was really impressed, not by the effects or moods the film elicits but simply from the fact that it’s really entertaining. Horror and monster movies have a tendency to take themselves too seriously at the expense of the viewer; as if at any lapse of concentration will make the audience completely stop caring for what’s on the screen. In that sense The Host, much like Sean of the Dead, is fearless. It’s not afraid to be something other than a horror movie, parody, or drama.

The Park family runs a small snack stand on the side of the Han River, unknowing that under its surface lurks a beast horribly mutated by gallons of tainted formaldehyde dumped at American military base. Grandpa Park (Byeon Hie-bong) and his slacker son Gang-du (Song Kang-ho) receive their call to greatness when the beast finally emerges from the river bank and kills dozens of tourists before running off with Hyun-seo (Ko Ah-Sung), Gang-du’s daughter. The tragedy reunites the rest of the Park siblings including unemployed college graduate Nam-il and their sister Nam-Joo, a professional archer who can’t seem to make it past third place.

Their grief is picked up on by the media turning them into a human interest story, giving them 15 minutes of fame that will latter complicate their status as fugitives. You see Gang-du receives a call in the middle of the night from his daughter who is apparently still alive and trapped in a sewer. Unfortunately he is also under quarantine due to a mysterious virus that the monster is carrying, so after a daring escape a family of perpetual losers must band together to slay the beast and rescue little Hyun-seo. Watching this group of underdogs risk their lives against overwhelming odds makes for a compelling film full of heroism tempered by slapstick and dread.

The antagonists in this film include a caricature of the US Army, the South Korean army and of course that lovable giant tadpole with a mouth only Sigmund Freud could love. The creature breaks the rules of monster movies making itself clearly visible whenever on screen and evokes the same mix of fear and wonder that Jurassic Park’s dinosaurs do, making it an unofficial member of the Park family. While many have compared it to Godzilla or Jaws to me the true dynamic of the story lies between the monster and a father’s doomed quest for revenge, making it more like Moby Dick for the cell phone era than anything else.