FILM REVIEW: The Host(ess) With The Mostess

My, What A Big Tentacle You Have!

If you've been yearning for some monster movie madness of late, then look no further than this release from director, Joon-Ho Bong.

"...all the credentials of what made Jaws so popular and then some..."

Released in March of this year, I recently rented The Host on DVD. It's one of those films that often slips under the radar of mainstream multi-plex goers and ends up on a short run of art house tours. If you like your trashy blockbusters, don't be put off by the multi-plex snub to this film. It has all the credentials of what made Jaws so popular and then some....

"...the biggest and best monster attack the film has to offer..."

We start off with standard fare for the genre. Corrupt scientist can't be bothered to dispose of toxic waste correctly, so just pours it down the drain (you know where this is going, right?). A short time later some mutant amphibian type creature is born in Seoul's Han River. Unsuspecting residents spot the creature and gawp at it in wonder and awe. Creature does some mysterious Jaws-esque underwater swimming as viewed from the surface. People continue to marvel at it ("Are these people stupid?", I hear you ask. Yes. Yes, they are).

It's at this early point in the film (first 10 minutes) that we get the biggest and best monster attack the film has to offer, and this is where The Host fails in some respects. While the sequence itself is spectacular and certainly not short lived, the game is given away immediately. Where films such as Alien founded their success on the suspense of "the other", the unknown, the unseen, here we are presented with the monster in its full glory straight away. There's no beating around the bush. No mystery. No suspense. So, if that's what you're looking for you'll be sadly disappointed.

What The Host does offer, however is a complex, and sometimes crude mix of horror, comedy, drama, socio-cultural and political discourse and heart pounding adventure. It's a bit like going to a revamped Butlins camp where there's something for everyone. Kids get to play with Chucky The Clown while Dad goes to watch the Blue Review Cabaret starring Shar-ron; the Stripper With A Kipper, and Mum gets pissed with "the gals" in the cocktail lounge. Does it work? Sort of, yes.

There are moments where the film is simply lost in translation. While Joon-Ho Bong isn't backwards in coming forwards with the Westernised references throughout, the cultural spine of this film is firmly set within Korean culture. What should be comedic at times becomes purely ridiculous. Maybe it's me. Maybe I missed a trick in that some scenes are meant to be ludicrous, like when the family are grieving for the supposedly dead child, Park-Nam Joo.

"I was routing for the bad guy!"

Personally, I wanted more monster for my rental fee. Don't get me wrong, Fishy Four Legs gets plenty of screen time but I would have preferred a more straight forward monster hunt 'n' kill than the not so subtle references to SARS, government propaganda and Western influences. There's no sophistication in how Joon-Ho Bong goes about getting his message across. It's crude and as plain as day even for the most mentally inept of movie goers.

Overall, the film is certainly worth a look. You won't get anything like this on the shelves or screens of your local DVD rental and multi-plex at the moment, and for that reason alone it's worth viewing.

"Imagine my grief as I watched an explicit and heart wrenching death..."

The special effects are beyond reproach, even in the daylight scenes where CGI can be at its most difficult to realistically conjure, the monster is just flawless. The dialogue is minimal in parts, relying mostly on astutely observed behavior and emotive acting from the cast, which is all done to a standard that could teach the most lauded Hollywood actor a thing or two.Ultimately, my own personal bias sits firmly with the monster itself. I loved that monster. I wanted it to win. Imagine my grief as I watched an explicit and heart wrenching death towards the end, coupled with the monsters bid for survival as it stomped towards it's only sanctuary, the river.

I was routing for the bad guy! There, I said it. Maybe I'm just sick! Maybe the creature is the new anti-hero for the 21st Century. It is the new Heathcliff, but I'm no Cathy!

7/10