Credit: Illustration by Kevin Peake

The Host (2006)

D: Joon-ho Bong; with Kang-ho Song, Hie-bong Byeon, Hae-il Park, Du-na Bae, Ah-sung Ko
File Under: Something Wicked This Way Worms

The days of tying damsels to train tracks while wearing a monocle and stroking a cat are dead and gone, which means cinema villains now have to blithely pour gallons of formaldehyde into the water supplies of major foreign cities to prove the depths of their wickedness. Of course, to be considered sinister in this day and age, it also helps to be an American (we Americans are quickly becoming the new Germans in world cinema: ruthless, destructive, and indifferent to local sentiment, though probably more bumbling than cunning). Anyway, three cheers for South Korean director Joon-ho Bong’s The Host for reveling in the absurdity of the environmental damage we humans do when we try to destroy the results of whatever environmental damage we’ve already done (in this case, a 30-foot mutant worm with a cranky disposition and a form that brings to mind the later work of both George Lucas and Georgia O’Keefe – and how often can you say that?) while celebrating the banana-peel-slipping, pie-in-the-face humor at the heart of any good nationwide institutional panic. – Josh Rosenblatt

This article appears in April 18 • 2008.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US

A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...

The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.