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Reviews Counted:141
Fresh:130
Rotten:11
Average Rating:7.7/10
Consensus: As populace pleasing as it is intellectually satisfying, The Host combines scares, laughs, and satire into a riveting, monster movie.
Theatrical Release:Mar 9, 2007 Limited
Box Office: $2,010,000
Synopsis: The talk of the 2006 Cannes International Film Festival, THE HOST, the latest film from critically acclaimed visionary director BONG Joon-ho, has already garnered a substantial amount of... [More]
Starring: Kang-ho Song, Byun Hee-bong, Bae Hae-il, Bae Doo-na
Director: Oh Bong-Joon
[Director Bong Joon-ho] brings to his subject a humanistic affection and expansive knowledge of the real world rarely found among filmmakers who single-mindedly nourished their childhood imaginations on things from black lagoons.
Throws a lively party with a little of everything: scares, laughs, politics and a bit of archery.
Top CriticThe Host is first and foremost an ecstatic monster movie, as terrifying as it is funny.
Top CriticLike Wes Craven, [director] Bong recognizes the possibilities for artistic and editorial expression that lie in the fertile ground of the thriller/horror/slasher genre.
Top CriticOne helluva monster movie--a giant-tadpole flick that melds chills, heart and humor into one gloriously wild, weird package...an immediate oddball classic.
...relentlessly entertaining.
I hesitate to use the word 'rollicking' for any reason, especially in the context of a horror film, but that's what The Host is: rollicking, thrilling, scary, funny, and satirical.
A thrilling ride and a sometimes dry, sometimes sweet comedy, but beneath all that is a humane and tragic view of life worthy of the greatest films. Even those without rubber monsters.
Top CriticAn absolutely corking giant monster movie, told with more panache and verve than anything since the lean and hungry glory days of Spielberg.
[This] wildly entertaining saga should become the hip, thinking-person's monster movie of choice.
Top CriticBoth smashing entertainment and snarky geopolitical allegory, this Godzilla vs. Little Miss Sunshine is the wildest and weirdest movie to hit screens in quite some time.
Like a delightfully unhinged version of a 1960s Japanese monster movie, this Korean thriller piles on character detail, political comment and comedy asides.
What makes it so enjoyable is how much stuff it contains while never losing sight of its prime directive, which is to thrill and terrify.
The Host, Bong Joon-ho's giddy creature feature, has an anarchic mess factor worthy of a pile of old Mad magazines.
Top CriticThe Host begins with a dry, frequently absurd comic sensibility, but steadily grows darker, more intense and truly thrilling.
Top CriticA colorful dissection of the fiendish creature genre that touches on a number of contemporary themes.
With unflappable confidence, Bong Joon-ho grafts droll humor and sly political commentary onto the DNA of a classic Hollywood creature feature.
Its brilliance as an original piece of filmmaking makes it evidently clear how much genius is at work behind every single frame.
This is a portrait of a country’s deepest anxieties, which just happen to be distilled into a mandibled squidlike reptile. It has the tang of social realism.
Top CriticPart social satire, horror, comedy and family drama "The Host" is an exciting example of cinematic bravura that signals a new day for Asian cinema.
September 02, 2009:
First Look: The Host 2 
Eager for an early glimpse of one of the monsters you'll see in "The Host 2"? Twitch has what you're looking for. More...
March 18, 2009:
Bong Joon-ho Discusses Upcoming Projects
Director Bong Joon-ho isn't involved with the upcoming sequel to his hit monster movie "The Host," but he does have a number of other projects in the pipeline -- including "an... More...
November 19, 2008:
The Host Is Coming to America
According to Bong Joon-ho, director of "The Host," Universal has purchased the American rights to his film, and the studio is planning a remake for U.S. audiences. More...
June 26, 2008:
The Host 2 Filming in Early '09
Director Ning Hao will helm and script a Chinese sequel to the Korean box-office smash The Host, scheduled to film early next year. More...
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