I’m not normally big on monster movies. This may surprise some people because I’m normally a huge fan of horror movies in general. Serial killers? Sure. Zombies? Why not? Murderous ghosts? I’ll give it a shot. For some reason, however, monster/creature movies have always struck me as being a little too over the top and outrageous. After seeing The Host, though, I’m now beginning to think that this was just because there hasn’t been a decent monster movie made in recent memory.
The Host is set in Seoul, South Korea and centers on the highly dysfunctional Park family. Gang-du and his father, Hie-bong, run a small food stand on the bank of the Han River. Hang-du doesn’t have a whole lot going for him. He’s kind of chubby, he’s always falling asleep on the job, and he doesn’t really seem to have any sense of ambition. Somehow, however, he must have at least had his game together at one point because he has a daughter Hyun-seo, who appears to be smart and very well adjusted. Hang-du’s sister, Nam-joo, is a world class archer who has the problem of freezing under pressure, and his brother, Nam-il is a cynical alcoholic.
The film opens with a scene in a morgue with a cold-hearted American ordering his Korean assistant to dump hundreds of bottles of formaldehyde down the drain, even though he knows full well that the pipes eventually lead to the Han River. (Interesting Note: This is based loosely on a real event, where an American ordered 20 gallons of waste that contained formaldehyde be dumped down the drain. The drain would eventually lead to the Han River, but not before passing through two water treatment plants and reducing any formaldehyde to safe levels.) This is really the only explanation we get for the monster’s existence and it seems to be done more as a courtesy to the viewer than as a necessary plot device. As much as I think my subconscious wanted a more complete explanation of how this menacing creature came into existence, when I think back, I think the way this was handled worked well. This allows the film to be presented as more of a disaster movie, likening the monster to an earthquake or tornado, which adds a sense of realism. The message that is put across to the characters/viewers is basically, “You may never know exactly how or why this creature is here, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is, so now you’re going to have to deal with it.”
The creature first makes its presence felt when it attacks the area of the Han River bank where the Park’s operate their business. The creature is menacing and devastatingly powerful, but not to an absurd degree. The fact that the damage the creature creates is proportional to its size (which seems to be comparable to a school bus) really does wonders for the film. If the monster would have been smashing buildings or throwing tanks around it would have been too easy to become comical. Amid the chaos of this first attack, the creature captures Hyun-seo, despite Gang-du’s best efforts to save her. Gang-du and the entire Park family are distraught. They think that they have lost the little girl forever. After the attack, all of those that survive are taken to a large gymnasium that is basically set up like the Super Dome after Hurricane Katrina. It is here that we learn that the only other person beside Gang-du to come into contact with the monster and survive appears to be suffering from some strange new virus that officials decide must be carried by the beast. Gang-du is immediately perceived as a threat and is taken into custody. While in quarantine, Gand-du receives a phone call that encourages him to hold out hope that his daughter may still be alive and he might have the chance to save her.
From a visual standpoint, I thought The Host was very well shot. There were a lot of muted gray, green, and blue tones throughout the film which worked especially well in the sewer scenes of the movie. The creature also looks fairly realistic, both in its movement and appearance, which is a credit to whoever was in charge of the film’s CGI.
My one serious problem with the DVD is the terrible English dub. Normally I watch foreign films in the native language with subtitles, but when I started this one up and it defaulted to English audio I decided to let it go. This was a mistake. Whoever cast the English voice over actors for The Host needs to get fired from whatever project they are currently on just because they did such an awful job here. The English voices were beyond ridiculous and at some points were just outright cartoonish. Often, there was slapstick emphasis in places it where it had no business being and there were frequently very significant differences in what the dub said and the subtitled translation put on the bottom of my screen. Why was I watching the movie in English with English subtitles, you may ask? Well, this is mainly because I had that little belief that the voice actors were actually doing the writer’s script justice. I think I would have enjoyed Host significantly more if I had watched it in Korean, and I partially blame myself, but that isn’t enough to excuse just how unprofessional a job this was.
That being said, I still did enjoy the film quite a bit. For anyone who is considering renting the movie, I still recommend it. Just watch it in Korean with subtitles. The Host is filled with great suspense, solid art direction, and awesome CGI. If you like horror movies then this falls into the “Definitely Rent It” category. If you don’t like horror movies, I still think there is plenty of value in The Host that makes it worth your while. While great at generating suspense, the monster isn’t something that the faint of heart are going to have nightmares about. There is also just enough humor / satire thrown in to make Host a completely worthy selection for a movie night with a few friends.
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i agree, it was definitely difficult for me to get past the ridiculous dubbing and appreciate the film for what it was. i guess i liked it overall except for parts of the ending, which i probably shouldn’t give away here.