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As populace pleasing as it is intellectually satisfying, The Host combines scares, laughs, and satire into a riveting, monster movie.
All Critics (151) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (140) | Rotten (11) | DVD (17)
As ebullient and bizarre as a monster that can do back flips, leaving the viewer in a shock of delight. Apr 1, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/4
As ebullient and bizarre as a monster that can do back flips, leaving the viewer in a shock of delight.
Liam Lacey
A horror thriller, a political satire, a dysfunctional family comedy, and a touching melodrama, Bong Joon-ho's The Host is also one helluva monster movie. Apr 1, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…
A horror thriller, a political satire, a dysfunctional family comedy, and a touching melodrama, Bong Joon-ho's The Host is also one helluva monster movie.
Jim Emerson
Bravely shifting tones from the horrific to the slapstick and back again, Bong Joon-ho has made a movie that's comprised almost equally of family sitcom, political indictment, high-urban paranoia and maximum-geek, monster-movie delight. Mar 30, 2007 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
Bravely shifting tones from the horrific to the slapstick and back again, Bong Joon-ho has made a movie that's comprised almost equally of family sitcom, political indictment, high-urban paranoia and maximum-geek, monster-movie delight.
Geoff Pevere
Rarely plays out the way you expect. Director Bong is careful to deliver the promised scares, but he is also willing to overlook plot formulas to explore his own interests. Mar 23, 2007 | Rating: 3/4
Rarely plays out the way you expect. Director Bong is careful to deliver the promised scares, but he is also willing to overlook plot formulas to explore his own interests.
Rene Rodriguez
Maybe this is actually a treatise on the dissonance between East and West, science and nature, promise and tragedy. Nah. It's just a dumb, crappy horror movie that wants to be celebrated as such. Mar 23, 2007 | Rating: D | Full Review…
Maybe this is actually a treatise on the dissonance between East and West, science and nature, promise and tragedy. Nah. It's just a dumb, crappy horror movie that wants to be celebrated as such.
Tom Long
The film's limber and inventive director Joon-ho Bong keeps The Host creeping and leaping for its entire two hours, which are filled with incident after incident, alternately terrifying, ridiculous, suspenseful and wry. Mar 23, 2007 | Rating: 3/4
The film's limber and inventive director Joon-ho Bong keeps The Host creeping and leaping for its entire two hours, which are filled with incident after incident, alternately terrifying, ridiculous, suspenseful and wry.
Terry Lawson
The Host filled a crucial hole in our horror life: a big, hulking, unstoppable force that we accidentally created and can't control. Oct 1, 2018 | Full Review…
The Host filled a crucial hole in our horror life: a big, hulking, unstoppable force that we accidentally created and can't control.
Sean Fennessey
This gripping Korean thriller remains one of the most unique releases of last decade. Jun 21, 2018 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
This gripping Korean thriller remains one of the most unique releases of last decade.
Leigh Paatsch
Imagine, if you will, the great white shark from Jaws clambering out of the water and attacking people on land, and you'll have some sense of what makes Bong Joon-ho's film The Host so terrifying. Aug 23, 2017 | Full Review…
Imagine, if you will, the great white shark from Jaws clambering out of the water and attacking people on land, and you'll have some sense of what makes Bong Joon-ho's film The Host so terrifying.
Dorothy Woodend
Joon-ho Bong's The Host is a very different kettle of mutated fish. Nov 16, 2012 | Rating: 4/5
Joon-ho Bong's The Host is a very different kettle of mutated fish.
Luke Goodsell
A livid bureaucratic satire, berserk creature feature and surprisingly somber drama, "The Host" is a convulsive, wild ride - simultaneously eliciting squirms and giggles by mashing up finger-pointing anger with "The Thing's" wiseass wickedness. Sep 24, 2010 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review…
A livid bureaucratic satire, berserk creature feature and surprisingly somber drama, "The Host" is a convulsive, wild ride - simultaneously eliciting squirms and giggles by mashing up finger-pointing anger with "The Thing's" wiseass wickedness.
Nick Rogers
A pleasant reminder of the pleasures in the low-budget quickly made monster B-film of the 1950s. Aug 10, 2010 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…
A pleasant reminder of the pleasures in the low-budget quickly made monster B-film of the 1950s.
Dennis Schwartz
There's a monster loose in Seoul, Korea. Interestingly, as Godzilla was the result of Westerners' atomic bomb/racist inclinations in Japan, so too this holocaust in Korea, which the locals have to deal with. There's slapschtick comedy too. While seldom boring it does take awhile to get to the wrap up.
Super Reviewer
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Not since the original Godzilla film has a monster movie been so great. The Host is a standout monster horror film that is superbly acted and directed. This is a straight forward back to basics film that doesn't overdo anything with its material. With this film, the filmmakers have created an intense and memorable monster movie that echoes some of the best in the genre. The story is well crafted and it keeps you involved from beginning to end. Nowadays, monster movies go for the found footage angle, which was good at one time, but now, it feels clichéd. The Host on the other hand differs significantly from this aspect, and creates something totally refreshing in the process. With that being said, this is a fine film that is edge of you seat entertainment and is sure to delight genre fans and any viewer looking for a good monster yarn to watch. This is a creepy and atmospheric horror film that uses elements of previous monster films to create something new and exciting. I really enjoyed the film and it ranks up there with the original Godzilla film as one of the greatest monster films ever made. This is what monster films should be, a simple, yet effective picture that manages to tell a good story with effective monster carnage. Most films with monsters that have been released Stateside, don't have that same appeal. I did enjoy Cloverfield, but it wasn't great either, it all style with barely no substance, it was fun, but it didn't have the elements to make it a standout monster picture. This film on the hand is a prime example of a great movie that stands out in the genre and can give American monster films a run for their money. The Host is a great movie that I recommend not only to genre fans but to anyone looking for a well crafted monster flick.
This was a top notch monster movie and even though the dubbing was pretty bad and it more than likely added to the confusion it was a pretty solid thrill ride.
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