The Host (2006, South Korean)

The Host is rad. It’s rare that I anticipate a film for quite so long and have it live up to my (often inflated) expectations. A tongue-in-cheek monster movie that builds on the legacy of both Hollywood and Asian horror, The Host hits the ground running – after a few quick backdrop scenes, the action is kicked off when the youngest member of a ridiculously dysfunctional Seoul family is kidnapped by the titular beastie, forcing her relatives to put their differences aside and band together in search of her.

As with many good horror films, The Host has a political subtext – in this case, the American military is responsible for not only the monster, but also for most of the hype and hysteria surrounding its rampage (“Agent Yellow” . . . think about it). Not that the South Korean bureaucracy fares much better – both the local medical and military forces are depicted as willing stooges, forcing the central characters to do all the hard work on their own (a classic cliché that is brought into clear relief in a hilarious exchange between the hero and one of the Americans).

But all of this is secondary to the easy pleasures of the chase – the special effects are excellent (the monster is particularly cool), and the film is consistently both funny and scary. There’s nothing particularly inventive about the plot or story (except, perhaps for the one-two punch that the monster packs, an ingenious way for to encompass recent fears about SARS and bird flu), but writer-director Bong Joon-hoo knows exactly what he’s doing, ensuring that even the most obvious horror staples (unique and necessary talent, not dead yet, etc.) remain lively. I’m crossing my fingers that Hollywood keeps its remake-happy hands off this one.