A Korean creature feature called HOST

[indianasmith]

This just came out on video this week, so I gave it a whirl last night.  I was really tired, and found myself drowsing in the middle of the film, but got enough out of it to make these comments . . .

SPOILERS BELOW!!

GOOD POINTS:  The creature himself is pretty awesome.  Ever since I saw Godzilla when I was 6 I  have had a fondness for big mutant lizard things coming out of the ocean.  The beast in this movie is a CG half-lizard, half fish mutant created by a scientist pouring toxic chemicals into the water.  He reminds me a little of some of the monsters in the comedy EVOLUTION that came out a few years back, but more realistic looking.
  - The little girl who gets swallowed and regurgitated alive in the creature's underground lair is the best actor in the film.  She has courage and genuine emotion and can project sheer terror in her eyes at the appropriate moments.  One of my biggest disappointments is that at the end you're not quite sure if she lives or dies.

BAD POINTS:  The girl's dad is a slacker idiot and the aunt, uncle, and grandad are for the most part just annoying.  Their interactions are unbelievable, their grief seemed overdone, and too much of the movie focused on them trying to find the creature and where it had secreted the little girl.
 - The dubbing was BAD!!!! I think most of the problems I had with the characters came from the fact that the dubbing was so bloody awful, and the sound track left a lot to be desired to.  Also, there was nothing much to look at in the whole film as far as girls went - the aunt character was moderately attractive, but spent most of the movie in an unattractive jogging suit.

Anyway, this was an interesting film, and the creature made it worth watching, but you might follow my lead and nap through some of the slow parts with the people.

[RapscallionJones]

I'm going to have to check this movie out eventually.  I keep hearing about it and there has been so much hype.  The snooty art house in Portsmouth booked it earlier this summer in the middle of a bunch of Janus art films and it didn't even take me hounding the booking guy for weeks about it (I got Old Boy booked there by relentlessly bugging the guy who booked movies).

[TheFilmFiend]

I really enjoyed The Host. It suffers from the occasional lapse into sappy melodrama, but I still think it's one of the better monster movies I've seen over the past few years.

Any particular reason for watching the dubbed version? Just curious. I'm a firm believer that a lousy English soundtrack can ruin just about any film.

[RapscallionJones]

I'm a firm believer that a lousy English soundtrack can ruin just about any film.

Unless that film is Story of Ricky.

[TheFilmFiend]

I'm a firm believer that a lousy English soundtrack can ruin just about any film.

Unless that film is Story of Ricky.

There are always exceptions.

 

[Torgo]

I've been wanting to see  The Host for quite some time since I heard about it months ago.

I'll have to rent it this weekend as a couple of nearby video stores have it in stock.

[Green Lantern]

I've been itching to see this flick for quite some time... I just put it at the top of my Netflix cue the other day... 

[Torgo]

There's been a ton of great cinema coming out of Korea over the last few years.

A Tale of Two Sisters, Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Lady Vengeance, R-Point are some that I've seen that are great.  (Well, R-Point is merely really good, but I still thought it deserves a recommendation). 

[RapscallionJones]

There's been a ton of great cinema coming out of Korea over the last few years.

A Tale of Two Sisters, Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Lady Vengeance, R-Point are some that I've seen that are great.  (Well, R-Point is merely really good, but I still thought it deserves a recommendation). 

I thought A Tale of Two Sisters was "meh", but I've pretty much had it with J-Horror these days.  I'm definitely hung up on Chan Wook Park.  After I saw Old Boy, I boldly declared him the most exciting director in the world.  Sympathy, Old Boy, Lady Vengenace, all amazing movies.  The under dog on his resume, though, is Joint Security Area.  I nearly cried in the end.

There's been some dope action out of Seoul, too.  Shiri, Volcano High School and Arahan al deserve a look.

[Dennis]

I watched Host last night, found it to be a very enjoyable movie. I started out with the Korean language and English subtitles but switched to the English language version, there are times when the dubbing sounds like the actors are just reading the subtitles aloud and other times where what is said is just a little bit off as far as meaning goes. The backround music in the soundtrack is also a little odd at times. I think this little bit of strangeness is due to this being a film intended for a Korean audience, some of the content is lost in translation. The creature effects are very good, and the story of the girl's family's rescue attempt is one that any one with a family can relate to. Another interesting thing is that while most people consider the girl's father to be some kind of slightly stupid slug, he and an American soldier are the only people who actually fight the creature when it first appears, and he and his family are the only ones who go into the sewers to rescue the girl and kill the monster. I've read about this film on a previous thread and so I was not sure I would like the ending, found it to be very good, not what you'd expect but still very good. All in all this is a good film, well worth watching.

[nada]

There's been a ton of great cinema coming out of Korea over the last few years.

A Tale of Two Sisters, Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Lady Vengeance, R-Point are some that I've seen that are great.  (Well, R-Point is merely really good, but I still thought it deserves a recommendation). 

Save the Green Planet is another good one.

[dean]

I enjoyed this one as well: lots of fun.  Though there were some parts that annoyed me [like the agent orange type stuff, I just thought that was pointless political posturing and had no point to it]

But I liked the humour and the monster was great.  You really have to love the first time you see the monster in full flesh, wreaking havoc.

Since it's now on DVD here, I'm going to pick it up and re-watch it.

[Mr_Vindictive]

I watched it a few times on an import DVD I picked up a few months back.  I really enjoyed the film, and think it's the best creature film I've seen in the last 20 years or so.  I love the main character, the father.  I know he's supposed to be a bit slow in the head, but as someone else mentioned, he's the one who gets things done.  I also loved the grandfather character.  His fate was obvious from the beginning but he was great with what he was given.

I need to see about picking up that new collector's edition we got here domestically.  It looks to be loaded with special features, so I can justify the purchase.

[Neville]

I saw it on theatre and though it was great. But it is a very bizarre movie. I'd say the filmmakers were more interested in doing a satire than a monster movie. It's sort of funny, because some of the monster scenes are amongst the best I've ever seen (specially the opening attack in broad daylight or the scene where it vomits human bones) and so is the comedy (that moment with the family crying, the soldiers not being able to catch some people because they're separated by a pane of glass), but the mix sometimes feels rather ankward.

[TheFilmFiend]

There's been a ton of great cinema coming out of Korea over the last few years.

A Tale of Two Sisters, Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Lady Vengeance, R-Point are some that I've seen that are great.  (Well, R-Point is merely really good, but I still thought it deserves a recommendation). 

I thought A Tale of Two Sisters was "meh", but I've pretty much had it with J-Horror these days.  I'm definitely hung up on Chan Wook Park.  After I saw Old Boy, I boldly declared him the most exciting director in the world.  Sympathy, Old Boy, Lady Vengenace, all amazing movies.  The under dog on his resume, though, is Joint Security Area.  I nearly cried in the end.

There's been some dope action out of Seoul, too.  Shiri, Volcano High School and Arahan al deserve a look.

If you like Chan Wook Park, definitely seek out I'm a Cyborg but That's OK. It's a little different than his work efforts, but it's certainly worth investigating.