"The Host" broke many Korean box office records before it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and in the US. It recently showed at several sold out screenings at the 2006 Chicago International Film Festival. In this case most of the advance hype and praise was justified.

"The Host" is a creepy little horror/science fiction film from South Korea that skillfully combines elements from many other fright films, yet it still comes off as fresh and original. There are also some great comic sequences involving a dysfunctional family that would be right at home on an American sitcom.

As in the movie "Godzilla," "The Host" is about a creature that emerges after the US contaminates the environment in Asia. But the monster behaves more like the shark in "Jaws" or the creature in "Alien" than a dinosaur.

The film’s huge lizard/fish appears after an American military leader uses the Han River as his personal sewage dump. The super strong creature can swim, run and climb very fast, and it sees people as Scooby snacks.

It keeps some young people as prisoners in a cave, presumably for a future meal. The only man who knows where they are is quarantined by officials who consider him a dangerous carrier of a disease that doesn’t exist (the film takes more than a few shots at government misinformation).

But the most interesting aspect of the film is its highly critical view towards The American government. The US (as represented by the official) is depicted as a callous, imperialistic power that is unconcerned about the health of the rest of the world.

The Korean government later attempted to prosecute McFarland and they ran into many roadblocks. The US refused to give him to the Koreans, and it took five years to convict him. Many Koreans were outraged, and some still distrust the American military, but no mutant creature ever emerged.

"The Host" is an intense and nerve racking film that provides more than just chills. Like "Land of the Dead," the film can be seen as a veiled parable about some unpleasant political realities that most American filmmakers don’t want to address. But it’s also a fun ride.