It never made sense to me when people trash American horror and say a certain country's scary movies are better. The reason people may have a jaded view of horror from the U.S. is because we get all of it; the good, the bad and the ugly. For the most part, a foreign horror movie has to be really good for us to even hear of it. It's a simple matter of percentages they're bound to have their stinkers as well. I'm all for watching foreign horror because there are fantastic horror movies you'll miss out on if you don't broaden your horizons, like today's movie...
The Host (2006)
The movie starts with an American coroner complaining to his assistant about how dusty their lab is. He then, because of dust on the bottles, orders his assistant to dump 200 bottles of formaldehyde down the drain that leads into the Han River in South Korea. At this point, I'm laughing at how over-the-top ridiculous they made this character and thinking about how unrealistic an explanation it is for the monster. But it turns out that actually happened. In 2000, a Korean mortician working for the US military was ordered to dump a large amount of formaldehyde down the drain that leads into the Han River. I should know better than to give humanity the benefit of the doubt, but that is insane.
Anyways, if you've seen a movie before, you know that's going to lead to a monster that will terrorize everyone it comes across. While hanging out near the river, people see some type of creature in the water. Our main character tosses a beer can near and it immediately gobbles it up. Amused by this, a group of people then start throwing whatever they can find in the water trying to get the creature to eat it. The problem is if you're a monster and suddenly a group starts throwing things at you, you're going to think they're hostile. Sure enough, the monster eventually emerges and then goes on a people-eating rampage.
What happens next is a really cool montage of monster destruction. It's anarchy as people are running everywhere trying to escape while a violent and hungry monster is gobbling people up left and right. In the chaos, the main character is separated from his daughter and accidentally grabs another girl to safety only to watch in horror as his daughter gets swallowed by the creature.
I've seen a bunch of monster movies, but I have to hand it to this one, it's pretty unique. For one thing, you see the monster, and you see it a lot. It's not like most when you get quick glimpses or little flashes until the big reveal. No, you get to see the thing in all its glory pretty much the moment it starts its rampage. Once the attack ends the movie is less about the monster and more about the family dealing with the loss. I have to say, I have never really cared all that much for the humans in a monster movie, but I loved this family because they felt real. They're all flawed characters dealing with their own set of unique failures. The patriarch wasn't a great father, the brother is an activist who knows he's not as important as he pretends to be, the sister blew her shot in an international archery competition because she took so long to shoot and the main character is viewed as a slacker and failure by everyone but his dad.
Eventually, the family gets split up due to different circumstances, but they're all heading for the same place with the same goal. We get to follow each of their journeys and learn a bit more about them. It's interesting to watch how they're different but similar as they each go on their journey. As I said earlier, this movie gets you to care about the family because they're well-written. When the movie focuses on our band of heroes, you're not just killing time until the monster shows up. You're getting character development, stakes and what feels like real people stuck in a terrible situation.
Outside of losing his daughter, the main character is your typical sad sack slacker but it's not from a lack of trying. When the monster attacks he has plenty of chances to escape but he puts himself in harm's way many times to save a whole bunch of people. It was just him and a US Marine who were risking their lives to help. While the Marine was wounded and taken to the hospital, the main character got away, so in every news story, only the Marine was credited as being a hero. Not only that, but the main character's family blames only him for his daughter being taken. The dude was brave, risking his own life, but everyone thinks he's a coward and a failure.
Backtracking a bit, let's talk about the Marine because the movie adds another layer to the monster attack. The Marine gets taken to the hospital for his injuries and doctors discover a weird rash on his body that they believe came from his close contact with the monster. The government then starts trying to round up those who got close to the beast, like our unlucky family. I'm not going to dwell too much into it because COVID is like a litmus test and I'm not opening THAT can of worms. But let me say this; it's crazy seeing the parallels from a movie in 2006, that has a lot of political commentary about the US, play out in real life 14 years later.
Back to the movie! I liked it a lot. It's a wonderful family drama with a backdrop of a monster attack. I loved the family because they screw up a lot and they fight and bicker like an actual family would, but they all manage to put their skills to use. I can't get over how much I like the main character, he is clearly the least impressive out of his family and he does screw up a lot, especially in two heart-breaking scenes, but he doesn't let the many setbacks stop him, he even manages to escape after getting, what was essentially a lobotomy. This transitions into my next point and something that made me roll my eyes the first time it happened and then laugh with how often it happens. They get caught multiple times and each time they escape the heavily guarded, secure areas without much of a hassle. It's like the recurring joke in the "Pitch Meeting" videos, "Super easy. Barely an inconvenience." The last one is the best because he threatens everyone with a syringe of his own blood while squirting a few people terrified he's infected with... something. It's such a surreal and hilarious moment.
I'm going to get a bit spoilerish, so you may want to skip to the end. They find out pretty fast that his daughter isn't dead, the monster just took her and plans to eat her later. The reason the family doesn't just go hide somewhere is because they're looking for her. At the end, I can't remember the last time I watched a movie and wanted a character to show some sign of life so badly. It's a testament to the character with how badly I wanted to get him a win. But then I remembered I wasn't watching an American movie. It's sad but the main character finds a small bit of solace, the sister redeems herself and the activist has his moments to shine while hilariously failing at the same time.
Before I go, I have to talk about one character that manages to stand out near the end of the movie. The brother wakes up under a bridge, having been dragged to safety by a homeless man. The brother offers him money for his help and in response, the homeless man smashes a beer bottle over his head. He admonishes the brother for reducing him to someone who will do anything for money but then gets up and leads him where he needs to go. What's funny is it comes out of the blue and the brother just kind of shrugs it off and follows him. He even gets a stand-out, hero moment that made me smile. I can't say enough about how much I liked the human characters in this movie.
I think my only complaint, and it's a small one, is the monster itself. It looks cool and I like how it moves when on land or under the bridge, but there are times when it's moving fast it looks a bit fake. It's a small thing and doesn't take you out of the movie, but it's something I noticed. Still, this is a really good movie and well worth the watch!
9 Dr. Chainsaws!
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