Nov 20, 2008 07:20 PM
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San Francisco, 10:59 PM
Tue Feb 9
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There was some heated debate over the merits of Korean kaiju flick The Host in comments yesterday - so allow me to retort. This clip shows why you should love Hostie, our weird, fish-shaped, bumbling monster who eats humans by the fuckton.
This scene is from early in the film, when toxic dumping off the Korean coast has led to the sudden appearance of this giant, fishy . . . thing. One of our heroes, who sells junk food and trinkets by the water, is the first to see it. As he fights the monster, aided by a weird American guy, his moves are simultaneously action and slapstick (he grabs a wacky "no horns" sign to whap it). Same goes for the monster itself, who fumbles and bumbles around on the silliest feet you've ever seen. And then opens its double-jaw to chew people up.
The whole movie has this scary-slapsticky air, with our protagonists acting like heroic goofballs. This interesting tone, the perfect blend of sharp satire and monstery goodness, is what puts The Host a cut above the rest. [The Host via IMDB]
Send an email to Annalee Newitz, the author of this post, at annalee@io9.com.
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