October 7th, 2010 - The Host/The Blob Double Feature

I guess this is sort of cheating, doing two reviews at once. But I'm still doing one a day, and watching at least one horror movie so just think of tonight as a bonus.

First off was The Host. This is easily the best monster movie/dysfunctional family drama/slapstick comedy/enviromental allegory I've ever seen. Bong Joon-ho is a master of mixing genres and refusing to let his work be pigeon holed. Every character is well developed. The dialogue is sharp and realistic. Easily one of the best films of the decade, horror or otherwise.

The story is simple on the surface. Chemical pollution in the Han River has created a giant fish monster which wreaks havoc on the shore and kidnaps the daughter of our main character Gang-du. He's not that bright, and he's got all sorts of family problems, but he does love his daughter. However, the government believes that the monster is the host to a brand new supervirus and quarantines everyone who came into contact with it. But with the help of his brother, sister and father he manages to break out of the hospital they've been confined to and go on the hunt.

Kang-ho Song plays Gang-du, and if you know your Korean film, you'll recognize him. From The Good, The Bad, The Weird to a turns in a couple of Park Chan-wook's films and Bong Joon-ho earlier film Memories of a Murder, he's one of the best actors working right now in any country. He instills the dim Gang-du with a sadness and noble sense of resposibility lesser actors would have ignored. And I don't want forget the rest of the cast. From the family, to the bit parts in the military hospitals and even the child actors, they all pull their weight. Highly reccomended.

Second movie of the night was the remake of The Blob. I wouldn't nessesarily call this better than the original, but it easily stands on it's own beside it. I may be biased, seeing as how this was one of the first horror movies I ever saw, but I still say this is a great point in the aruging for remakes.

To be fair though, Kevin Dillon is no Steve McQueen. He's not even a Matt Dillon. But he does the cocky, juvie thing well which is all he needs to do. And Shawnee Smith does well in a more innocent turn than her usual Saw work as the love interest. All the other actors do fine as eventual Blob fodder. The script was co-written by Frank Darabont, which I had no idea was the case. It's a little less pro-hope (more on this in a later review) than usual but it's just as witty and intense as his later, more well-known works. The director was Chuck Russel, who went on to make The Mask, Eraser, and The Scorpion King. Clearly, there is a downward trend.

The effects are cheesy, but in that awesome 80's way, and the gore is inventive and plentiful. The ending promises a sequel that never came though. Apparently remakes in the 80's weren't quite as popular as today. I recall The Thing bombing in it's day as well. Le sigh. I'm here to tell you that this is one remake that does the original justice and deserves to be seen. Both of tonight's movies do, really. So get on it!