The Appliance of Science

[Lautremont]

http://film.guardian.co.uk/patterson/story/0,,1937791,00.html

The appliance of science
If only we had more monster movies like The Host. There hasn't been a better time for sci-fi allegories since the 1950s, says John Patterson
John Patterson
Saturday November 04 2006
The Guardian


Bong Joon-Ho: what a fantastically evocative name. With a handle like that, the South Korean director could easily be an ounce-a-day pothead or an Asian porno superslut. Sadly, he is neither, but with his new horror movie, The Host, he deserves our heartfelt commendation for reviving the fine old tradition of taking an innocent monster movie and packing it to the irradiated gills with yeasty political satire, knowingly zeitgeisty nods to Our Present Plight, and plenty of digs at the squid-brained idiots we have elected to rule over us. In times like these we need more of this sort of thing.

(snip)


George Bush might be parodied as some variant of the Id Monster from Forbidden Planet, fizzing and humming with Methodist psychosis and neo-con self-righteousness, and Tony Blair might turn out to be some direly monstrous offshoot of the Quatermass Experiment (or, in a nod to his relationship with Washington, The KissAss Experiment). The Republicans could, without much exaggeration, turn into the New Living Dead, staggering about and thirsting after the brain matter of married homosexuals, abortion doctors and godless secular-humanists.

Of course, we'd have to nuke Hollywood before they'd let a political subtext into their product but, after all, that's what B-movies are for. Joe Dante showed how it's done in his scathing back-from-Iraq zombie satire The Homecoming last year. Low-brow, low-budget auteurs, here is your chance.