For once, here's a movie that lives up to its hype. "The Host" may not be the greatest monster movie ever made, but it's easily the best one since "Tremors," and certainly the smartest & most entertaining to come along in a long time. Allegedly the most expensive film ever made in Korea, it puts a unique narrative spin on the old don't-screw-nature formula. But in addition to being a full-blooded horror film, "The Host" is also a surprisingly compelling character drama, quirky black comedy, family film and biting satire.

A huge amphibious monster, the result of a science lab dumping chemicals into he water, emerges from the Han River, killing several people and abducting a few others, including a young girl, whom it stashes away in the sewers of the city (presumably to eat later). After the attack, the military is called in, who also claim the monster is the host of a flesh eating virus. Thus, everyone who might have come in contact with it is quarantined, which includes the dim-witted father of the abducted girl. Later, the father, with the aid of his family, manages to escape quarantine and venture into the sewers to find look for his daughter, who is still alive, and doing her best to take care of a boy whose own dad was killed by the monster. Meanwhile, the government, who is totally inept at handling this situation, seems more concerned with recapturing the renegade family and keeping a lid on the increasingly bogus virus story, than killing the monster. Yeah, this is typical monster movie fodder, and there are a few narratively clumsy moments, but I was immediately taken back by how character-driven the film is. "The Host" does a great job establishing each major player, and an equally impressive job showing the changes they undergo throughout the story. We really like these people, and totally identify with what they are going through, for whom there is much more at stake than a simple monster on the loose. In addition, much of the movie's comedy derives from these folks as they bicker and argue about the proper course of action. Because of this, the film later becomes as emotionally jarring as any full-blown dramatic movie you'd care to name. There are also instances of fairly clever (but not too subtle) satire, particularly during the frequent segments in which we see the government & military at work. Technically, the film is well made, especially when you consider "The Host" was not made with the typical $100 million Hollywood budget. The visual effects are pretty decent, or at least convincing, and sometimes quite impressive in the many scenes in which the monster appears in the background. I guess the best thing about the effects is that they don't really call much attention to themselves. Never is the viewer overly impressed with them, but neither are they given the chance to remark upon how phony they are. The viewer simply accepts them as part of the story, mainly because the plot and characters are so well-rounded and compelling.

The movie is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and the overall image is really impressive. Black tones are accurate, and colors & lines are sharp. The audio is render in English-dubbed and Korean 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital. For movie purist, the Korean audio track is far superior. Trust me, as well-dubbed as this film is, you want to see it in its original language, especially with regard to the characters. Besides, this is one of those movie that, after a couple of minutes, you forget you're watching subtitles, anyway.

Disc 1 features audio commentary by director Bong Joon-Ho, as well as a short featurette in which he comments on the production. The rest of the bonus features comprise Disc 2, and there's a ton of them. There are numerous making-of featurettes, covering casting, basic production, special effects and computer animation. Also included are interviews with most of the cast & crew (all of whom, of course, knew they were part of something special), a truly amusing gag reel (featuring pranks from the FX team), screen tests, sound effects features, storyboards, and trailers for this & other films.

"The Host" is a lot of movies wrapped up into one tight package: a thrilling monster flick, an FX extravaganza, a clever satire, a unique character study and full-blown drama. The premise itself may be typical monster movie fodder, but you've never seen a one quite like this. The film broke box-office records in its native country, and it's easy to see why. Very highly recommended.