995. Gwoemul

Gwoemul
The Host
2006
Directed by Bong Joon-ho

We really haven't had a decent horror film on this List since The Blair Witch Project.  While I would hardly classify this is as scary, it was nice to get a taste of the genre again.  I have been really scraping the bottom of the barrel with Netflix Horror lately.

An American military pathologist orders his Korean assistant to dump 200 bottles of formaldehyde into the Han River.  Naturally, this creates a giant hell beast that begins attacking people.  Park Gang-du is delivering food from a snack bar owned by him and his father when the monster attacks, carrying away his young daughter, Hyun-seo.  The South Korean government and the American military quarantine the survivors of the attack, claiming that the monster is the host of some terrible disease.  When Gang-du and his family learn that his daughter is still alive, the family resolves to escape from the quarantine and save Hyun-seo.

I am not sure that I could justify calling this special or a must see.  It was certainly entertaining and tense, and the creature looked great.  Still, I must admit there is nothing truly remarkable about this film.  I suppose it makes an interesting political statement about the general shittiness of US foreign policies and environmental disasters.  But does that mean it deserves a place on this List?  I'm not sure.

In any case, I have to give it four stars for pure enjoyability.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Highest grossing South Korean film of all time.