McDonald, Keith ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7477-5963 (2007) The Host (Gwoemul). The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies (3). pp. 113-115.

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Abstract

The Host's individual take on instances of monstrous terror is also indicative of its links with the work of Steven Spielberg, in particular Jaws (1975), Jurassic Park (1993) and War of the Worlds (2005), an influence that is further apparent in the film's portrayal of varying types of dysfunctional families, from which children are cut off. What begins as pathos quickly becomes ridiculous, a satirical portrait (almost a self-contained comedie sketch) of the media's appetite for recording the grief of those affected by mass trauma. ****SPOILER BEGINS**** Later, the Grandfather makes an emotional plea that Gang-du's siblings be tolerant of their dim-witted brother, only to be killed because of the hapless Gang-du's inability to count in a scene that mixes a balletic slow motion action scene with cartoonish slapstick ****SPOILER ENDS**** These tonal shifts help generate an unsettling yet intriguing feeling that the narrative may not follow the generic conventions of the monster movie, and it is in the disavowal of such conventions that The Host is at its most effective. ****SPOILER BEGINS**** For example, the impetus behind much of the plot is the need to save the vulnerable Hyun-seo from the lair of the monster, a driving force that is a mainstay of so many popular dramas as to appear mundane.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	Published
Subjects:	A General Works > AZ History of Scholarship The Humanities
School/Department:	School of Humanities
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/6194

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