The Host

For me, this movie was a shot in the dark. I heard a few good things, so I went out and bought a copy. Some might call that foolish, but I have had pretty good luck with random movie purchases. Unfortunately, later that same day, a friend of mine told me that The Host was not that good a movie. In fact, he said that, other than one really good scene, it was a waste of money.

Well, I watched The Host the other night and I was very pleased. It was an outstanding horror / comedy movie! The DVD jacket says that it rivals Jaws; while I do not totally agree with that, it is a great movie in just about every aspect I could think of.

The story is a fresh take on an old theme, one that started long ago with Herman Melville's Moby Dick. A monster takes something from the main character, or in this case characters, and they feel the need to hunt that monster down and reap vengeance. We have seen this theme before in many movies, including but not limited to, Jaws, Orca, Lake Placid, to a degree, and, of course, Moby Dick. This theme is done well in The Host; well enough to put it in the same rank as those movies. Especially Jaws; more on that later...

The cinematography was excellent. The scenes were filmed with a sharpness that only a seasoned filmmaker could capture. Tunnels were dirty, reeds were growing wild, snow was cold, and the monster was scary.

The special effects? Fantastic. The first time you see the monster - which was a very original design, by the way - the scene is made to look incredibly real. At times, I was reminded of news footage. Back to the monster: it was not only very original, but it was interesting and impressive. It was given a character of its own, so to speak, meaning that you saw aspects of a real animal in the way it acted and the way it moved. At the beginning, it was clumsy and random, but as the movie progressed, the monster gained the grace that a maturing animal would have. It was very well done, indeed.

The characters, which are what drives a film, are awesome! Jaws was not about a killer shark; Jaws was about the men who hunted it. Forget the monster, focus on the people. In The Host, those people are very rich and they are all likable. You instantly, and I mean instantly, care for them and want them to succeed. They make this film work. And what is really impressive about the characters is that you can see them change as people as the film goes on - every single one of them (except the focus of the film's story, which is not who you think it is). This film is very deep and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good horror with some comedy in it. If you liked Lake Placid and if you liked Jaws, then you will like The Host.

But watch it in the original Korean with English subtitles. Dubbed movies are stupid and they make the dialogue very silly. Silly enough to ruin the movie.

Kids movie? Nope. Too scary. Just because kids are in the movie does not make it a kids movie. There is gore, there are scares, and there are heavy thematic elements. No kids.

Date movie? Could be. There are enough laughs to keep most people going. Just make sure your date likes subtitled movies and monster movies. And that is what this is: a good, old-fashioned, new-fangled monster movie.

On the hydra scale of movie critiquing, I give The Host seven out of seven heads.