If you’re in the mood for an unusual and good monster movie these days, our author Björn Becher has just the right streaming tip for you: “The Host” is currently available on Amazon Prime Video.
At FILMSTARTS.de, the South Korean monster movie “The Host” by “Parasite” director Bong Joon-Ho has “only” 3.5 stars, which is a good rating and comes with a clear recommendation, but in my opinion is still a good bit too low for this particular film. For me, “The Host” is one of the best monster films of all time.
You can stream “The Host” on Amazon Prime Video as part of the Prime subscription and below I want to tell you briefly what it’s about and why it’s worth it.
THIS IS “THE HOST “
After the US military dumps chemicals in the hillside, a mutant monster emerges in the river a few years later and attacks the Seoul promenade, eating some people and kidnapping others. Thus the monster also takes little Hyun-seo (Ko Ah-sung).
She is able to contact her family briefly by mobile phone from the creature’s hiding place. But since the military doesn’t want to believe this, Hyun-seo’s scatterbrained Papa Kang-du (Song Kang-ho) sets out on his own with Grandpa Hie-bong (Byeon Hee-bong), Aunt Nam-ju (Bae Doo-na) and Uncle Nam-il (Park Hae-il) to the rescue.
“PARASITE” MAKER BONG JOON-HO BRINGS US COMPLEX MONSTER CINEMA
“The Host” is superficially flawless popcorn cinema that entertains in the best possible way. The rescue story is incredibly exciting, plus there is quite a lot of humour. Visually, the film is a glossy blockbuster, but director Bong Joon-Ho takes a lot of time to introduce the characters and make us root for them. You also have to be prepared for a lot of melodrama.
But those who are familiar with the diverse and outstanding work of Bong Joon-Ho, who is hopefully at least known to all film lovers after his Oscar success with “Parasite”, know that there is more to him than meets the eye.
