Home
About OFCS
Member Profiles
Schedule
Forum
Awards
O.F.C.S. Members:
Sign In
O.F.C.S. Members
Movie Overview
Cast
Kang-ho Song
Byun Hee-bong
Bae Hae-il
Director
Joon-Ho Bong
MPAA Rating
R - for creature violence and language.
The Host (2007)
REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
(1 - 36) of 36
OFCS Rating: 91% Fresh
Page
1
4.5/5
"like a mutant hybrid spawned from the improbable union of
Little Miss Sunshine
and
Godzilla
; for in this family comedy and political satire an unnaturally evolved tadpole just happens to loom (very) large."
Eye for Film
Anton Bitel
3.5/4
"Unlike Spielberg of late, [it doesn't] cop out"
Film Freak Central
Bill Chambers
3.5/5
"Because this movie was made in Korea, and not in the focus group fancying US of A,
The Host
tends to avoid most of the genre's obvious stumbling blocks."
DVDTalk.com
Bill Gibron
A-
"
The Host
is a mesmerizing, occasionally gangbusters dark ride that invigorates the long dead genre's potential for scares and composite storytelling."
OhmyNews.com
Brian Orndorf
4.5/5
"exactly what our Western shores need."
Filmcritic.com
Chris Cabin
B+
"Part social satire, horror, comedy and family drama "The Host" is an exciting example of cinematic bravura that signals a new day for Asian cinema."
ColeSmithey.com
Cole Smithey
3.5/4
"Slapstick and
Godzilla
-inspired histrionics go (skillfully) hand-in-hand in this hugely entertaining creature feature from South Korea."
rec.arts.movies.reviews
David N. Butterworth
2/4
"...filmmaker Bong Joon-ho bogs the proceedings down with an egregiously overlong running time and an unwarranted (and unwanted) emphasis on the political ramifications of the monster's existence."
Reel Film Reviews
David Nusair
2.5/4
"Retains a quirky charm that cannot be discounted. Recommended not just for what it achieves, but for what it attempts to."
TheMovieBoy.com
Dustin Putman
4/5
"Más que una simple película de monstruos, un raro ejemplo de entretenimiento, drama familiar, crítica política y social y humor muy, muy bizarro."
Uruguay Total
Enrique Buchichio
A-
"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."
EricDSnider.com
Eric D. Snider
5/5
"Not just a monster movie, it’s a movie about family, and it’s a movie about the lengths we’ll go to to save our loved ones."
Film Threat
Felix Vasquez Jr.
3.5/4
"Wickedly sardonic and fiercely fiendish in its perky presentation...a smart and simmering creature feature that crackles with percolating weirdness and wonderment."
TheWorldJournal.com
Frank Ochieng
B+
"One helluva monster movie--a giant-tadpole flick that melds chills, heart and humor into one gloriously wild, weird package...an immediate oddball classic."
One Guy's Opinion
Frank Swietek
A-
"
The Host
could easily be read as, what else, an allegory for The War on Terror. When the American military uses violence, against a monster of its own creation, mind you, it's mostly a lot of innocent civilians who are hurt in the process."
Cinepinion
Henry Stewart
2.5/4
"The problem with the film is that the sum isn't greater than the parts and the pieces don't fuse in a way that's consistently pleasing or cinematically satisfying."
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
"One simply dreads the inevitable Hollywood remake . . ."
Sci-Fi Movie Page
James O'Ehley
3/4
"The Host may be lumpy and bumpy, but it's also one of the freshest monster movies we've had in decades -- and, to any creature-feature buff, a rocket-ride blast of the highest order."
Cinematical
James Rocchi
3/4
"A colorful dissection of the fiendish creature genre that touches on a number of contemporary themes."
Palo Alto Weekly
Jeanne Aufmuth
7/10
"A spirited endeavor at enhancing the signal sent from
Godzilla
so long ago, for even then, under the atomic bomb fallout, governments were not to be trusted."
ReelTalk Movie Reviews
Jeffrey Chen
7/10
"If the slow pacing and gawky acting seem typical of low-budget monster movies, so much the better."
DVDTown.com
John J. Puccio
"Director/co-writer Bong Joon-ho has a lot of fun with the premise, infusing political commentary into the tale of a family brought together by tragedy."
Light Views
John Larsen
4.5/5
"click for full review"
Movies for the Masses
Joseph Proimakis
B
"Joon-ho is more skilled with his monster action scenes than with his virus conspiracy..."
rec.arts.movies.reviews
Laura Clifford
3.5/4
"Boon's film is both funny and heartbreaking, a supremely confident mix of political satire, free-floating paranoia, fractured family dynamics and the kind of comedy that regularly reconfigures itself into tragedy."
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Maitland McDonagh
3.5/4
"Bong Joon-ho's
The Host
delivers high-octane thrills while cannily exploiting contemporary political fears."
Slant Magazine
Nick Schager
4/5
"O talentoso Joon-ho utiliza o gênero "Godzilla" para contar uma história intimista que, no processo, faz pesadas críticas à submissão sul-coreana aos interesses norte-americanos. E tudo isso levando o espectador à tensão, ao riso e ao drama."
Cinema em Cena
Pablo Villaca
4/5
"Like a delightfully unhinged version of a 1960s Japanese monster movie, this Korean thriller piles on character detail, political comment and comedy asides."
Shadows on the Wall
Rich Cline
B-
"Pure genre entertainment, featuring great special effects."
Reeling Reviews
Robin Clifford
4/5
"The special effects used to bring the creature to cinematic life are really quite excellent, and the frequent beastie bites should tickle even the most jaded horror freak."
eFilmCritic.com
Scott Weinberg
A-
"The most dynamic and vital creature feature to invade American screens in years..."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
3/4
"Mixes the chemically enhanced intensity of a
Godzilla
sequel with the single-minded mission status of
Harold and Kumar
."
Charlotte Weekly
Sean O'Connell
3.5/4
"A fantastic satire/monster movie"
sbs.is
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
8/10
"A rather tender-hearted, often sorrowful, more often hilarious view on the familial conflicts between generations and between siblings."
Antagony & Ecstasy
Tim Brayton
2/4
Read review
Big Picture Big Sound
Joe Lozito
Read review
Wolf Entertainment Guide
William Wolf
(1 - 36) of 36
OFCS Rating: 91% Fresh
Page
1
Reviews database provided by
Rotten Tomatoes
and the
Movie Review Query Engine
All articles and reviews on this website © the respective authors.
All other content © The Online Film Critics Society (0.14)