THE HOST movie review

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E.C. McMullen Jr.
RUMOR

A city in panic as people vanish.
One scientist may have the answer, but is he telling the truth? Or is he hiding behind RUMOR?

PERPETUAL
BULLET

"'Some People' ... may be the standout story in the book."
- John Grant, Infinityplus

E.C. McMullen Jr.
WILLOW BLUE

"'Willow Blue' will burrow under your skin and stay there long after you've put the book down."
- Jeffrey Reddick, Creator of
FINAL DESTINATION

IN OTHER BOOKS
E.C. McMullen Jr.'s
short story
CEDO LOOKED LIKE PEOPLE
in the anthology
FEAR THE REAPER

"This Ray Bradbury-esque is one of the most memorable and one of the more original stories I've read in a long time."
- Steve Isaak,
Goodreads

HORROR 201:
The Silver Scream

Filmmaker's Guidebook
featuring
RAY BRADBURY,
JOHN CARPENTER,
WES CRAVEN,
TOM HOLLAND,
E.C. McMULLEN Jr.,
GEORGE A. ROMERO,
and many more.

And In
CINEMA
E.C. McMullen Jr.
Head Production Designer

MINE GAMES
(Starring:
JOSEPH CROSS,
BRIANA EVIGAN,
ALEX MERAZ,
ETHAN PECK)

Dept. head
Special Effects Make-Up
(SFX MUA)

A SIERRA NEVADA
GUNFIGHT
(MICHAEL MADSEN & JOHN SAVAGE).

		Review by Kelly Parks
THE HOST aka Gwoemul - 2006 USA Release: March 30, 2007 Chungeorahm Film / Showbox/Mediaplex Rated: USA: R

This is supposedly based on a real incident*

SCIENCE MOMENT BY
KELLY PARKS

Could chemicals dumped into a river cause the fish to mutate? Certainly. Would one of these mutations be a giant amphibious monster that likes to swing from bridge girders? Nope. Not a chance. Mutations do not work that way.

Nor was the director really implying that. This movie has a blatant political subtext along the lines of government indifference (specifically, American government indifference) toward the damage done to the environment deserves punishment. And nature will deliver this punishment by rising up and smiting innocent bystanders who never dumped anything anywhere. Or maybe that’s just my take on it.

*Nothing "supposedly" about it.

In Seoul, South Korea in the year 2000, an American civilian, Albert McFarland, working for the U.S. military, ordered his staff to dump about 120 liters of embalming fluid down the drains, which emptied into the city's drinking water.

He worked in the base Morgue and rules, infrastructure, and protocols were in place for the proper, safe disposal of biohazard and toxic fluids.

Albert chose to bypass all that and pour it in the city's drinking water.

This illegal dumping of poison into the city's drinking water was discovered, causing an International incident.

Why Albert McFarland thought that his staff, some of whom were South Korean, would be more loyal to staying silent about his gross negligence than their loyalty to the homeland and hometown where their families lived is anyone's guess, although my guess is McFarland is both foolish and incompetent.

I base my guess on his documented years of unapologetic behavior and attempting to use legal loopholes or technicalities in order to avoid accepting responsibility.

Nobody was hurt as the river water passes through two purification plants before entering people's homes.

None-the-less, the callous affront was taken to heart and many believed, despite all evidence to the contrary, that they were poisoned by contaminated drinking water.

Part of the problem in South Korea is their ingrained Appeal to Authority culture that takes the most ridiculous statements as fact if they come from assumed authority (like Americans with everything Anthropogenic Global Warming).

Currently considered "fact" in South Korea by the majority of the population (and given ample play in their news coverage) is the idea that if you go to sleep with a fan or air conditioner on in the house, You'll Die. This "Fan Death" is believed along with a "host" of other myths in South Korean culture and influences their daily lives.

Appeal To Authority Fallacy.