Over fifty years ago visionary director Ishiro Honda unleashed “Gojira” onto a horrified Japanese populace establishing the criteria for the giant monster movie. Years of cheesy sequels and terrible remakes eliminated the fear that was once attached to mere site of what we would come to know as “Godzilla”. Twenty years after the giant lizard first emerged from the ocean depths the water got scary again when a silly shark novel by noted hack Peter Benchley was adapted into a film that would change the way we looked at beaches forever. Sadly, much like “Gojira”; endless parodies, rip-offs and unwanted sequels diluted “Jaws’” original impact and the unknown depths that coat over seventy percent of our world became safe once again. Then in 2006 Korean Director Joon-ho Bong unveiled his masterpiece “Gwoemul” (”The Host”); South Korean box-office records were crushed and the Han River helped make water all over the world scary again.
“The Host” opens inside of a Seoul Mortuary where an insane American doctor has ordered his Korean assistant to dump hundreds of bottles of highly toxic formaldehyde. Instead of handling the hazardous waste properly, the American orders that they be emptied directly into a sink that drains into the Han River. While many people (mostly uninformed Americans) decry this opening scene as “Anti-American” or “Koreans taking a swipe at America”, there’s a little problem with that argument. This scene is based on events that actually happened back in 2000. The only difference is that a giant mutant fish didn’t crawl up the banks of Seoul and begin devouring its citizens…yet.
After getting a quick glimpse of the creature’s origins we’re whisked away to a park that lies on the edge of the Han River. This is where the imbecilic and narcoleptic Gang-Du (Kang-ho Song) “works” at his father’s snack stand. After watching his sister Nam-Joo (Du-na Bae) lose her archery title during a televised event, Gang-Du leaves his father Hie-Bong (Hie-bong Byeon) and daughter Hyun-seo (Ah-sung Ko) in the shack to see to the customers. Realizing that his diners are more interested in something lurking beneath a nearby bridge, Gang-Du strolls over to the river’s edge to get a better look.
A giant slimy, “thing” resembling a glob of mucus is hanging from the beams of the bridge and slowly drops into the river with a commanding splash. The dark shadowy form makes its way to the shore and instead of being horrified, the crown attempts to feed this unseen beast by throwing all manners of food into the drink. Within seconds the creature erupts from the waters and the entire area goes into a state of maniacal chaos. People getting trampled, tossed around like rag-dolls and ultimately sucked into the beast’s cavernous mouth. Gang-Du teams up with an American G.I. in a futile attempt to stop the monster that costs the G.I. his arm and Gang-Du his only daughter. The horrific creature swims across the powerful river with her snared in its tail and once it reaches the other side it seems to devour her whole and then it dives into the river to make its escape.
All of the public that witnessed or had family involved in the attack are moved to a relocation camp with a shrine built to mourn the loss of their loved ones. The scene is eerily reminiscent of the tragedy that Hurricane Katrina left it its wake just a year prior to this film’s release. Anyone who came in contact with the creature may have been exposed to a virus that the government claims it was the host of. In order to prevent an outbreak everyone is quarantined including Gang-Du and Hie-Bong who are quickly joined by Nam-Joo and brother Nam-il (Hae-il Park) they have arrived to find out what happened to their beloved niece. Later that night Gang-Du receives a muffled and hard to decipher cell phone call, it’s Hyun-seo; she’s still alive trapped in a giant sewer by the creature. The call cuts out and after failing to convince the authorities of his daughters survival, the family breaks out and goes to rescue Hyun-seo and kill the thing that took her from them.
Right off the bat Joon-ho Bong takes one of the most over used monster movie clichés and throws it right out the window. In most giant monster films the audience is forced to wait until the third act to get a good look at the creature terrorizing the cast. Often quick glimpses of the monster are delivered to sedate the appetite of the audience while they sit through inane dialogue and piss poor acting. In “The Host” the mutated fish creature is shown full screen running through crowds of people in broad daylight. The scene is unsettling to say the least, at first it seems almost comedic with hundreds of Korean extras running for the hills; with most films of this genre being ultra cheesy, one is unprepared for the tone of serious terror the chaos quickly takes on. At one point in the initial attack the creature bursts through the front doors of a school room whose other exit doors have been chained and padlocked. Once small hands begin reaching out from the silver of a crack between the two doors while blood begins to leak out of the floor, one quickly realizes that “The Host” is a damn serious movie and nothing like it’s silly predecessors.
For all the seriousness “The Host” builds with its tension filled pacing, it’s also punctuated with perfectly fitted moments of laugh out loud comedy. The comedic punch of the father-son duo of Gang-Du and Hie-Bong had the entire audience rolling with infectious laughter. The buffoonish antics of the wonderfully portrayed by Kang-ho Song were complemented brilliantly by the deadpan delivery of Hie-bong Byeon. The hilarious yet touching scene that takes place inside the snack shack after their initial escape from the authorities is mesmerizing especially when factored into the accompanying scene.
While I’ve never been a fan of CGI effects, the creature work done in “The Host” by the folks at Orphanage who were responsible for ‘The Day After Tomorrow” did a pretty decent job. While not perfect, the effects never detract from the power of the film. It’s not like the awful green screen extravaganza “300″ where it feels like you’re watching your retarded kid brother play a video game. The effects really shine during close-ups of the creature featuring practical effects constructed by John Cox’s creature workshop.
It’s rare when a film blends this many genres into one and refuses to play by their ingrained clichés. The comedic moments rely on both slapstick and set-up’s, the moments of loss and terror feel frighteningly realistic and it got me to jump out of my seat no less than three times. I can’t remember a film that’s gotten me to jump once in the last five years, let alone three times with real scares not just loud music. I defy anyone with an ounce of taste to find a single thing wrong with “The Host”, every inch of this film is nothing more than a grand spectacle of what film could and should be. Plus, if the audience I attend with is any indication, it’s the film you can take that Asian guy from work to. Seriously, I turned around after the house lights went on and almost every group in there was three white people and an Asian guy. Finally a film you can enjoy with your IT guy that doesn’t have the words Crouching or Tiger in it.
10 out of 10 canisters of Agent Yellow
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