Couldn't find a thread on this South Korean 'monster' flick. Anyone else seen it? Saw it recently and honestly thought it was incredibly well made.
Yeah, I loved it too. Especially the fact that it wasn't as much about the monster as about the dynamics of the family. Plus the ending was fantastic. Frank, where did you see it dubbed? When it played here it was subtitled. If you can, rent his previous film Memories of Murder - an equally unusual take on the serial killer genre.
does it have optional subtitles?? i prefer to read the movie and hear the original language version....
I loved it. Very funny. It was one of those movies that was a bit of a gamble, but came away very impressed. Saw it on the big screen.
I saw it on 35 mm and it was subtitled. I can definitely see that detracting from the movie overall. I would try to track down the subtitled version. The scene with the American scientist and the father was superb.
I bought a used rental 'domestic' DVD & could play the Korean sountrack & toggle on the subtitles. (I never bother w/ dubbed anything). Try it again and mess around w/ the audio & subtitle options.
Ah fuck, Memories of Murder is one of my top films...brilliant! Funny this thread should pop up (there was one in the past actually) as my girl just came in the room about 10 minutes ago and asked if we could watch the Host again...great timing!
I have a particular soft spot for Korean cinema. Over the past 2 years I think I've watched more Korean movies than anything else, and I manage a cinema e.g. I see a lot of Hollywood etc movies.
there was definitely a thread on this...I think I could have sworn I posted on it. anyway, I didn't like The Host at all. WAAAAAAAY too overhyped. way too much going on in the plot, not enough monster. I think what really killed it for me is all the ridiculous praise critics were giving it like "just like Spielberg in his prime" or "the best monster movie since Jaws." c'mon, you're gonna compare it to fucking Jaws! c'mon!
I can agree with this. It was a completely different movie. They had almost nothing in common I'd say in terms of the genre, plot, techniques etc.
there was i started it. this is a fun little flick but no a patch on his previous film like khante said, memories of murder is amazing
Come on Skylar - you didn't like the Host but liked 30 Days of Night? I don't even know who you ARE anymore
haha I had heard so much about how The Host was sooooooooo great that I think I was just expecting more. it was way too talky, not enough action. I'm not watching a monster movie to see a story about some family, I'm watching it to see a monster tear shit up and eat people. also I had heard so much about how it was a slapstick comedy, but I didn't think it was funny at all. in my opinion it missed in all the places it should have hit. 30 days of night was good
Yeah, I hear that...I guess I just expected a diff kind of "monster" movie being familiar with the filmmaker...plus the main actor is one of my favorites, the guy is fucking hilarious in this film. Too bad there was a lot of hype, that always does it - though I didn't hear ANYTHING about the film hype-wise before seeing it so I definitely approached it a bit differently... I sort of liked 30 Days...the vampires were the best part of course but there just weren't enough twists for me...
I love the way no one in the film was really safe. When a couple of choice characters get it, it always keeps stuff edgey and real for me!
Just saw it, liked it a lot, but I think I'm missing a bit of the cultural background to give me the right frame of reference for some things. Had a good balance of action, slapstick, and sweetness, and the monster was cool, too. About the title, though. What does it mean? Is South Korea the host, and America the parasite? The anti-governmental overtones made it feel a bit like a Romero movie.
