The Host (2006)

It's the recombinant offspring of all those science-fiction pictures of the 1950s and '60s in which exposure to atomic radiation (often referred to as both "atomic" and "radiation") or hazardous chemicals (sometimes also radioactive) results in something very large and inhospitable: "Them!" (giant ants), "Tarantula" (giant spider), "Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People" (giant fungi), "The Amazing Colossal Man" (giant bald guy), "The Giant Behemoth" (giant behemoth -- both giant and a behemoth, but more precisely a radioactive ocean-dwelling Godzilla clone), "Frankenstein Conquers the World" (giant Frankenstein's monster atomically regenerated from the beating heart of the original monster after the A-bomb is dropped on Hiroshima), and so on.

We all remember the many mutant monsters created by atomic radiation in films of the 1950s, the best of the lot being the giant ants in "Them!"

Even with only three features under his belt however, Bong could be following in the steps of a Stanley Kubrick, taking different genres, respectable or not, imposing his own sensibilities, and following or flouting those genre conventions much like Kubrick did with 2001: A Space Odyssey (science fiction), The Shining (horror), or Full Metal Jacket (war).

This is not the best work from either production company; it feels instead like something done in spare time (unfortunate comparisons to 1997's Guillermo del Toro vehicle "Mimic" are likely).

At first it's amusing that this quartet would want to slap on the leather jackets and skull bandanas and do the "Easy Rider" thing.

À l’image de ses homologues britanniques Simon Pegg et Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), le cinéaste sud-coréen signe une incursion vivifiante à l’intérieur d’un genre souvent meurtri qu’il dote ici d’une tension dramatique particulièrement soutenue générant autant de rires que d’effrois.