One Of The Best Giant Monster Movies Of The Modern Era Is Streaming For Free

Before Hollywood truly embraced Bong Joon Ho as one of the best filmmakers of his generation (giving him three Oscars for his darkly funny 2019 South Korean thriller "Parasite"), he'd already been making prestige pictures on the other side of the world for nearly two decades. His third feature, 2006's "The Host" — now streaming for free on Fandango (Vudu) and Xumo Play – was Ho's first attempt at horror, a classic creature feature with comedic undertones, and he knocked it out of the park.

Co-written by Ho, Hah Jun-Won, and Chul-hyun Baek, the film follows the Park family, including the bumbling middle-aged loser Gang-du (Son Kang-ho), his teenage daughter Hyun-seo, his hard-working father Hee-bong (Byun Hee-bong), his good-for-nothing alcoholic brother Nam-il (Park Hae-il), and his sister, the Olympic archer Nam-joo (Bae Doona). Despite their vast differences in wit, lifestyle, and worldview, they really need to stick together when a giant amphibious monster jumps out of the Han River next to the park where Gang-du and his dad run a snack shack together.

As the thing rampages around killing a bunch of innocent people, it grabs Hyun-seo and disappears into the water with her. The Parks think she's dead, but shortly after the fiasco, Hyun-seo contacts them from the sewer system where the creature took her along with its other prey. Soon, a quarantine is ordered by the government, claiming the monster is the host of a lethal virus, and the Parks have to escape to save Hyun-seo and potentially kill the beast that keeps her captive.

If you're familiar with Ho's work, it almost goes without saying that "The Host" is replete with dark and smart humor that outweighs its aspirations to be a legit terrifying horror. That's not to say he doesn't create suspense and fear out of thin air whenever the story calls for it, or that there's no drama to take seriously and relate to. He absolutely does all of that with measured precision and, at times, jaw-dropping brutality and gore (it's R-rated for a reason), which can satisfy even the most hardcore horror fans out there.

But there's an obvious mockery to everything that happens in this often hysterical horror comedy that showcases some of the core essentials of why South Korean cinema (and TV) is up there with the best in the world of entertainment. So it hardly comes as a surprise that "The Host" blew away both moviegoers and critics (having a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) when it was released in 2006. Even if some of the attention it received came after "Parasite's" success (which will get its own HBO series) and the COVID-19 pandemic, which the film's narrative rhymes with in multiple aspects.

However, its initial box office performance had nothing to do with either of those factors, and it still became South Koreas' biggest hit in 2007, garnering $89 million worldwide against its $11 million production budget. That's a feat not many horrors can pull off outside the U.S. So if you missed "The Host" entirely and you're big on goofy yet well-executed creature features, you've got to give this banger a watch — especially since now you can do it for free.