The Host

The best summer movie you’ll see this year is about to slither into theaters — only it’s coming several months early, you might not find it at your local multiplex, it’s as thought-provoking as it is scary, and it’s not being released by a major American studio.

The Host hails from South Korea, and despite the fact that we’ve looked to Asia for our serious genre fixes for decades now, director Bong Joon-Ho’s nature-run-amok parable will probably be relegated to the subtitled-film ghetto of downtown art houses. But for discerning popcorn munchers seeking the adrenaline rush that comes only from watching large, scaly CGI monsters gobble down innocent bystanders, your prayers have been answered tenfold.

The concept couldn’t be more Saturday-matinee B-movie: U.S. Army scientists stationed outside of Seoul dump a mess of toxic chemicals into the drink. Years later, a dim-witted street vendor sees something odd-looking hanging off a bridge. When the tadpolelike creature swims up to the water’s edge, picnickers pelt it with garbage. Then it scrambles out of the river, snacks on a few citizens and kicks off an extended sequence of chaotic creature-feature carnage that will make anybody’s inner 12-year-old squeal with unbridled delight.

Great monster movies, however, are always about more than the joys of chomping on power lines and passersby; since real-world disasters have far eclipsed whatever can be cobbled together with software programs and several million bucks, it’s now impossible to view make-believe destruction without seeking deeper meaning. Like Steven Spielberg’s recent remake of War of the Worlds, this import places the same amount of emphasis on social breakdown as it does on thrills and chills; but unlike its Hollywood brethren, there’s no sense that Authority will save the day.

Once the mutant amphibian disappears into the sewers, the media immediately throw up a smokescreen and the military start quarantining anybody who disagrees with the official “It’s a killer virus” explanation.

The fact that the so-called cavalry consists primarily of American soldiers isn’t a coincidence, considering the long history of strained relations between the U.S. and South Korea. But it also speaks to a larger paranoia that doesn’t begin or end at that country’s borders: When shit happens, don’t expect help from the government. Horror movies that bring the cultural critique are nothing new, but who expected an action flick to be this much fun and make a deformed frog the lesser of two evils?