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It began years ago, when an American doctor with a serious aversion to dust forced his assistant to empty shelves full of dusty bottles of hazardous chemicals down the drain. The chemicals went directly into Seoul’s Han River, creating a strange mutant creature that makes its home in the river and the surrounding sewers.
One day, years later, the giant monster surfaces and storms the river banks, wreaking havoc and swallowing anyone who gets in its way—including Hyun-seo (Ah-sung Ko), a thirteen-year-old girl whose father and grandfather run a food stand by the river. Devastated by the mutant’s attack, the government blocks off the river banks and sets up a memorial to those who were killed. There, Hyun-seo’s family gathers to mourn her death. But as they’re mourning, the military arrives to take away everyone who had come into contact with the monster—as well as everyone who had come into contact with someone who had come into contact with the monster. Tests on an American soldier who fought the monster show that it may be the host of a dangerous virus that must be treated immediately. And since Hyun-seo’s father, Gang-du (Kang-ho Song), fought the beast along with the American soldier, he’s immediately quarantined.
That night, Gang-du’s cell phone rings—and it’s Hyun-seo. She’s still alive, but she’s somewhere in the city’s sewers, and she needs help—or she might become the mutant’s next meal. So Gang-du and his family escape and take to the sewers to try to save her.
This Korean monster movie isn’t what you might expect. With all the terrifying horror movies that have come out of Asia in recent years, I was prepared for weeks of nightmares about being chased by bloodthirsty mutant sea creatures. But The Host isn’t really that kind of movie. After the Godzilla-like scene in the beginning, when the monster surfaces and hundreds of people try to run away, there isn’t really a whole lot of scary monster action. That’s not to say that you won’t jump out of your seat a few times, when the monster pops up to take another victim or two. But the rest of the movie is more about the family’s battle to save Hyun-seo than anything else. And though it tends to move a little slowly at times, it’s actually pretty funny. Gang-du’s sister tries to battle the beast with her trusty bow and arrow. And Gang-du gets captured and tries to prevent a cross-eyed doctor from lobotomizing him. While the movie does have its scary moments, for the most part, it’s pretty silly.
If you’re looking for a nightmare-inducing horror movie, this isn’t really it. The Host does, however, offer a little bit of everything—a little bit of sci-fi horror, a little bit of drama, a little bit of action, and a little bit of comedy. But it doesn’t have a lot of any one thing, though, so I left feeling a little bit confused.
If you can’t decide what kind of movie you feel like seeing, however, The Host has it all. It’s not the most cohesive film, but as long as you know what you’re getting yourself into, you’ll find that it’s actually pretty amusing.
