The Host (KR) (limited)
| release date | March 9 2007 |
| studio | Magnolia Pictures |
| director | Bong Joon-ho |
| writer | Bong Joon-ho |
| starring | Song Gang-ho, Byeon Heui-bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doo-na, Ko A-sung |
| site | hostmovie.com |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
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Awesome monster movie. I thought it looked really sweet and the story was really good. The only thing is I wish there would have been a little more gore and that the main character wasnt so stupid. But other than that a great monster movie.
Enjoyed this movie.
It gets slow in the middle but picks up again. Good monster film
Less of a horror film than a drama about the loss of a child that happens to have been caused by a monster. I enjoyed it but was a bit underhwhelmed as I expected it to be more of a horror/sci-film than a drama about a family dealing with the loss of a loved one. It was good for the drama though the best parts were the monster coming out of the water and attacking as it appeared shockingly realistic and may have even been the inspiration for Cloverfield based on the monster attacks. When you see the monster on film you actually believe it’s a living creature and not a special effect. The way it moves and the swiftness of the attacks must have been modeled after real animal attacks. It almost reminded me of watching a bull attacking in a rodeo, with people’s responses being the same.
main character pretty stupid…too much ridiculous crying, and some bad CG knocked the score down…but way to go busting out a modern monster flick…thanks for the fun!
I thought it was just ok. Some good and original stuff but the dialogue is stupid, the main character is dumb, the CG are bad, it’s boring in a middle and the movie is not funny at all…
In 1 word… Stupid
This was a good creature flick. It continues on the train of pretty damn decent movies coming out of Korea.
Best Monster Movie ever made…
The monster was cool, not the coolest but a good one. The main characters were stupid. There was talk of a disease that could have been something more but only ended up taking away from the creature.
So one sunday comes along and I got my handy free movie ticket that’s finally redeemable due to its ‘fun’ restrictions and I don’t know what movie to see, so I roll the dice and choose The Host because of its hype from Korea. From start to finish the movie is sub-titled, like The Passion or Apocalypto but just like them I was used to it in seconds. On to the movie! First off, when’s the last time you saw a good monster movie? Maybe Godzilla in ’98? Well finally we got another one that’s actually pretty good (and funny). The movie is based around one family who owns a food stand near a river – a few years back something made it into the water that made a mutant evolve into a people-eating monster that can swim and run on land. So of course our focus family has their youngest abducted by the monster and it’s up to the family to rescue her. Along the way you get some pretty good laughs and some great action. If you can handle the sub-titles go check it out for sure!
Had the creature looked a bit more realistic and not average cgi’d , i would have enjoyed this movie much much more, overall the story itself is good and very entertaining from beginning to end, however i feel the crappy cgi work takes away the experience some.
When this started out with the monster attacking people I thought this was going to be a hell of a movie. Once we got involved with the family screaming and crying and some terrible acting it got boring then it picked up again at the end. This could have been one of the greats with more monster, gore and blood. Hopefully the remake learns something.
nice lil creature feature
Overall, this movie was a little long but still fun to watch. The main family characters are entertaining to watch and made me laugh out loud a few times. A good creature feature and highly recommended!
I really wanted to like this…but lets face it,it sucked.
Great movie.
the monster looked awsome but we never see it enough,the rest of the movie is so boaring you just wanna see the monster again.
Haven’t seen it since it came out in theaters but I recall really enjoying it. Not quite what you’d expect from a creature feature. Definitely interesting and original. By no means a classic but it has it’s moments.
For once, surprisingly, I agree with the majority. “The Host” is a less-than-impressive ‘monster’ movie about a girl who has been kidnapped by a mutated something in the Han River. When she is learned to be alive, her family — her irresponsible father, nutty grandfather, drunk uncle and failure athlete aunt — goes against the government’s judgment and searches the sewers for her. It starts out immediately as a very fast-paced thriller that was at the same time fun and diverse in many ways.
My problems with it? I have one, but it’s one of the most monumentally huge problems you can have with a movie that’s an hour and fifty-nine minutes long:
While most movies respectably have small slow-ish parts, this was utterly boring. It felt intentionally boring, to be honest. It was dragged for so long for really no reason. The family was pretty much just driving around and walking around and yelling out names. And an hour later (at least it felt like it), when the action picks up, I’ve lost so much interest that the already-dullish action sequence where Grandpa dies just can’t hold my interest.
After the grandfather’s death, the family separates, the father being captured, the other two going into seperate hiding, and it seems to come to a complete halt.
Now, I’ve had boredom in movies, but I simply can never stay awake through it! The first time I watched it, I did, but every other time I couldn’t handle the incredible sluggishness.
If it hadn’t been for that, I would’ve liked “The Host” a LOT. But I just didn’t.
An original monster movie that rolls suspense, drama, and comedy all into one. The US film industry can take a few pointers from film making overseas. They always seem to make better original films since the remake outbreak arrived in hollywood. All I’m trying to say is, I bet the remake is gonna suck dick compared to the original. If you like smart monster movies then you’ll love this. Of course, the english dubbing has its awful moments but the movie will make you forget about it, highly recommended.
One of the most unique creature features I have ever seen and also one of the best. With an awesome monster and fantastic cinematography, The host is an amazing film.
Score: 9.5
A touching movie about family and survival disguised as a giant monster movie.One of the deepest,smartest,and funniest giant monster flicks ever made.The acting was great especially the little girl. Pacing is for the patient, but the ending is incredible and differant.Great Flick!
Whoa! This is going to be a classic!
A very unique monster movie. On par with District 9 in my opinion.
Well acted and smart. Also, it’s pretty deep. Definitely more than the sum of it’s parts.
Check it out!
rather go watch cloverfield 50 times instead
Yep, not bad at all. The opening with the creature rampaging through the field was the most exciting and best scene. The ending was also tense. But the middle seemed a little bit.. I dunno.. It just didn’t seem as exciting and sometimes it got a bit boring, but apart from that it is definitely worth a watch and the standing at the bus station scene is hilarious!
The Host is a very strange movie. This film was just ok. And the monster, in my opinion was really stupid. The way it looks and the way it moves and stuff, I just didn’t like it. And I was really bored during the middle of the movie. For me, it just wasn’t going anywhere. But enough of the bashing, the acting was great, the shots were great, the music was good. All in All, it was a good film, don’t get me wrong, but just not my type of movie.
Incredible monster. But the soundtrack and english dubbing were distractingly irritating. The voices were very “cartoony”. A good story and warning about excessive goverment control even in emergency situations.
Beautiful creature, some interesting characters and a good sense of humor should make for a great big beasty movie, but in this case it’s only a mediocre watch. Character development was pretty solid as well. As most people have said the middle is a drag and I think that really detracts from the film as a whole. If they had cut out the useless meandering story, and allowed it to run full bore over your face it would have been one of the best in a long time.
Epic monster movie! It has more to do with one families struggle in a time of peril, than it does about the creature itself, but this is why I think the movie works. It doesn’t go down the rabbit hole and lose all sensibility.
Just like a Godzilla-style monster movie in that the monster scenes are cool and exciting, but the filler parts in between just absolutely suck. The giant catfish with legs in The Host is badass, and a couple of the scenes are truly monster-movie cool (the opening beach/parking lot scene, especially). The rest of the filler storyline is trying to make a point of things, but this seriously would have been been far better off cutting out a half hour of crap. The skulls in this review are solely for the monster scenes, and they make this dvd worth keeping to watch again.
I definitely have to watch more horror movies from South Korea. Already seen the outstanding “A Tale Of Two Sisters”, the entertaining “Thirst” and the creepy “Whispering Corridors” –
and now another excellent Korea-flick: “The Host”, one of the most extraordinary movies I’ve seen in a long time; a fabulous blend of monster movie, comedy, horror movie and family drama.
I love how it’s written, paced and directed: it jumps from gripping suspense to over-the-top action to hilarious comedy to saddening drama back to comedy, back to action, and so on – a bit odd but eventually really enjoyable (reminded me a bit of “Kontroll”).
Same for the acting: sometimes amusing, sometimes serious and always awesome, most notably the performances from Song Kang-ho, Byeon Hee-bong and Ko Ah-seong.
Highlight of the movie is of course the monster, a fabulously designed CGI creature that looks just terrific. I daresay that the monster’s first appearance (when it attacks the people at the riverside) is one of the most amazing and most thrilling things I’ve ever seen in cinematic history.
Other highlights: the super-weird mourning scene (starts out emotional and sad, but suddenly gets incredibly humorous), the scene where the monster vomits out all the human bones, the little girl’s attempt to escape from the sewer and the disquietingly calm epilogue-ending.
A remarkable and exceptional film, highly recommended!
This was pretty dope I’ll look forward to the sequel.
Hobo Approved(TM)
This is worth watching for the monster scenes themselves, especially the first attack on the beach…but as someone else pointed out below, the rest of the film is really little better than your average Godzilla movie’s faux drama. Find it for cheap, enjoy the beastie scenes, and make liberal use of the fast forward button.
This movie goes completely nuts when combining drama, action, social satire, comedy and the monster movie genre and gives you a ride you won’t forget that soon-but don’t watch this movie if you don’t like asian humour, because Gwoemul got plenty.
Bong Joon-ho is a great filmmaker. And The Host is just yet another shining example of that fact.
A truly unique and menacing monster. The slimy creature âe” along with the Korean government – holds captive, terrorizes and oppresses the people of the region. The Host has some great moments, no shortage of drama, and a good dose of humor – albeit long winded and sappy at times.
What an overhyped piece of drech this was. The only reason it’s getting 2 stars is because the creature effects were pretty cool. Otherwise it was horrible acting (OMG! If I had to suffer through one more horrific crying scream I was going to gladly give myself to the creature), a god awful boring storyline for at least half of the movie (it seriously took me 4 times to watch the whole thing because I kept falling asleep), and a storyline with so many holes in it the Swiss are screaming foul! I do not for the life of me understand why people love this thing – though, hey, to each their own. My suggestion? Skip it and save 2 hours of your life!
Based on your comment, I have come to the conclusion that you have absolutely no taste in good cinema. WHat a shame
One of the best creature features ever produced; everything from the cinematography to the acting was superb, and the creature itself was so well done (its skin and shadows are a sight to behold) that I was constantly in a state of awe at how well made this film ultimately was. If you enjoy monster movies, movies with a sense of love for the genre, and just good films altogether, watch this film. You will not be disappointed.