Film Reviews

The Host (Gwoemul)

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Hae-il Park
• Details: Japan / South Korea / 119mins (15A).

After dumping gallons of chemical waste into the Han River, it's inevitable that some sort of mutated hybrid will grow under the deep waters. The massive creature, a cross between a squid and a lizard, comes ashore years later to wreak havoc on the city of Seoul. When it kidnaps the daughter of a dim-witted kiosk attendant, the family decide they're not going to wait on the government to sort it out and take the matter into their own hands. Using daylight to shoot the monster instead of under the cover of darkness, director Joon-ho Bong creates an air of realism with The Host despite its formulaic story, and has enough confidence in his special effects department to come up with the goods. They do, as the creature looks the business and the opening rampage on the unsuspecting public is a real treat. Bong constantly toys with the audience throughout, switching from disturbing horror to unexpected moments of hilarity with ease, and has ended up with a kind of Tremors for the 21st century - which is always a good thing. The characters are well-drawn, which is unusually fresh given the genre, and we feel for them from the outset. This fiddling within the genre parameters is evident throughout the film, as we're constantly guessing where the director is going to take us, or show us, next. For example, Bong gives us a poignant scene when a tearful grandfather tells his children to stop picking on their dim-witted sibling, only to find that they have drifted off to sleep during his most heartfelt moment.

Review by Gavin Burke