The Host

Original title: Gwoemul

2006
R
2h

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

135K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:07

Kaiju Monster Horror Psychological Drama Tragedy Drama Horror Sci-Fi

A monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and begins attacking people. One victim's loving family does what it can to rescue her from its clutches.A monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and begins attacking people. One victim's loving family does what it can to rescue her from its clutches.A monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and begins attacking people. One victim's loving family does what it can to rescue her from its clutches.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

135K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

3,389

190

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 29 wins & 36 nominations

Park Hie-bong
(as Byun Hee-bong)

Park Hae-il

Park Nam-il

Bae Doona

Park Nam-Joo
(as Bae Doo-na)

Ko Ah-sung

Park Hyun-seo

Oh Dal-su

The Monster
(voice)
(as Dal-su Oh)

Lee Jae-eung

Se-jin
(as Jae-eung Lee)

Dong-ho Lee

Se-joo

Yun Je-mun

Homeless Man
(as Je-mun Yun)

Pil-sung Yim

Fat Guevara
(as Pil-Sung Yim)

Kim Roe-ha

Hazmat Suit Man at Funeral
(as Roe-ha Kim)

Yu Yeon-su

District officer Mr. Jo
(as Yeon-su Yu)

Park No-shik

Inquiry officer

Go Su-hee

Hostage nurse
(as Su-hee Go)

Scott Wilson

Douglas

Kim Hak-sun

Civilian Military Mr. Kim

Paul Lazar

American Doctor

Brian Rhee

Young Korean Doctor
(as Brian Lee)

Director
- Bong Joon Ho
Writers
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Co-Writer and Director Bong Joon Ho and the designer of the creature nicknamed it Steve Buscemi, based on the actor's screen persona and the way he acted in Fargo (1996).

Goofs
The sewage they are searching the monster in, is dry and clean.

Quotes
Park Gang-Du: Let's have a cold one. Here.
[He hands Hyun-seo a can of beer]
Park Hyun-seo: This is alcohol.
Park Gang-Du: Well, you're in middle school now.

Crazy credits
Just before the credits ends, you can hear a loud roar of the monster.

Alternate versions
There are two versions in circulation, the worldwide theatrical release, and another, edited cut available in Croatia. Runtines are, respectively, "2h (120 min)" and "1h 50m (110 min) (DVD) (Croatia)".

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: 300/The Namesake/I Think I Love My Wife/Beyond the Gates/The Host (2007)

User reviews403

Review

Featured review

9/10

Incredible

This movie took me by storm, it is by far one of the more interesting, fast paced, seat-gripping movies to come out of Korea.

When I initially picked up this movie, I was sort of sceptical, a monster movie from Korea? Going to be mediocre at best. But this is where I thought wrong...

Right from the beginning, this movie was interesting, and it never lets you go once it got you. Fast pace from start till end. And it really helps that the effects are awesome.

The movie mixes humour well with the "horror" part of it, as it is a monster movie. And it works well. Even if you are not a particular fan of Asian movies, you might want to check this out for the effects alone.

I have seen this movie a couple of times already, and it doesn't get boring. It is somewhat of a gem in Asian film history - at least I think so.