Review #195: The Host (2006)

This review was originally written in 2022.

Gabe's 100 Bucket List Horror Films Review #50: The Host (2006)

Writer/Director Bong Joon-ho has expressed frustration with people's reactions when making this film, as they seemed to think that making a "monster movie" was beneath him. While I can definitely attest that Bong Joon-ho is a fantastic director (I highly, highly recommend Parasite, another movie of his that unfortunately isn't on this list), I feel that looking back, this is a peculiar movie to make people feel that way about him. Because ultimately, I don't think this IS a monster movie.

I mean, it is, but it isn't.

The Host is a Korean film that was so popular that approximately twenty percent of the entire country bought tickets to see it. It follows the story of a family whose daughter is kidnapped during a viral outbreak, and they go through hell and high water to get her back (but at what cost...).

There's also a monster in there. But that's the core of the story- it's about this family rescuing their kidnapped daughter, and the lengths they go to to find her and bring her home safely. They break quarantine, they bribe police officers, they evade capture numerous times, they triangulate cell phone towers, they incite riots and team up with anarchist vagrants and bronze-medal olympians- all to get their daughter back. THAT is what this movie is, whether or not there's a monster involved. Heck, I'd sooner call it a heist movie than a monster movie, and I'd only feel a little silly doing so. [Edit from Gabe in 2024: In fact, back when I reviewed this movie the first time in 2016 I said it felt more like an Action flick than a Horror flick, and I even compared it to Speed except with a big monster instead of a bus. So I think my thoughts have been fairly consistent between viewings.]

Maybe that's the beauty of a visionary director- they can take a genre that you think you have all figured out, and flip it on its head to tell a better story than the medium should allow. I don't think this is a perfect movie, I don't even really think it's a truly great movie, but it's a good movie. I can't say I expected how popular it was in Korea, but hey, good for them, and I'm sure plenty of other great movies were made specifically because this was such a success.

Anyway, if you watch this you won't be disappointed, but if you like it there's better K-Horror films out there too, so watch those after.

Overall Rating: 7/10 Tasty Squid Legs

Fantastic IMDB Trivia: "Co-Writer and Director Bong Joon Ho and the designer of the creature nicknamed it Steve Buscemi, based on the actor's screen persona and the way he acted in Fargo (1996)."