GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

bowmanblue Monster movies come and go and, these days, they're all pretty much the same. The question is, 'Can a film repackage the same old story enough to make it an enjoyable experience?' I'm glad to say that, with the Korean film, 'The Host,' the answer is a firm YES.The story itself is as old as it comes - big monster/scared humans. However, this film is just too much dumb fun to be forgotten. 99% of it is subtitled (a couple of English speaking actors pop up here and there, so you'll have to be used to reading to enjoy it) and I guess it's hard for me to concentrate on actors' performances, but I think the central family who gets caught up in an attempt at fleeing/hunting one hell of a weird fish-monster-thing are believable as a family unit.For a horror film there's not that much gore (and when I say 'gore' I mean the 'red stuff'), the 'horror' comes from watching some really helpless civilians fall foul to the beastie. The special effects are just about passible. Sometimes you look at the monster and can see that it's not really there, other times it really does interact well with the environment.What really elevates 'The Host' over so many similar films are the little touches. There seem to be plenty of 'random' moments in the story which aren't really connected to the central plot. It maybe a throw-away line from a random extra who only appears in the film to say these few words. Or it may be the added character traits and backstory which have been put in to actually flesh out the characters, rather than just making them pure 'monster-fodder.' It's pretty 'self-knowing' though never really comes across as a comedy/horror, despite the antics making me smile on more than one occasion. The family's interactions which each other are just quite fun to watch as they bicker like the best of us between them.Perhaps the film isn't quite so 'random' as I thought it was. The Korean culture appears to be different enough to our Western ways of doing things to mean that occasionally I wondered whether people would really act the way the characters did, only to conclude that the reason they were behaving that way was because they simply do things differently in certain situations. Either way, the film was enormous fun and, if you're into your monster movies then it's definitely worth adding to your collection (and it is nearly two hours long, so prepare for a monster-marathon watch!).

adrieverw I like this horror movie. The monster they made for this movie looks realistic enough.

robertemerald This is perfect Saturday night viewing. This is a really good monster movie. The monster is original, big, frightening, shown often, and the CGI is brilliant. The story is both heart-felt and tongue-in-cheek, and successfully melts those two aspects by having flawed characters that the viewer grows to love the more you see them. There is an endearing and unexpected twist at the end that is also a story of hope and sacrifice. The characters are over-blown and bananas like a Japanese game show, but fortunately this melds perfectly with their quest against such bizarre circumstances.I came across this movie because it kept popping up second-hand at op shops around town. I'm kicking myself. I could have bought a few copies and gifted them to my friends.

punishmentpark Quentin Tarantino once advised me (not personally, I shall add) to see this, and it blew away the first time. This later time around, I am still very much impressed, but I can't give it 10 out of 10 anymore. Especially the opening sequence is still easily worth a full 10, but other parts just aren't all that perfect, but still good or even very good.The characters (especially big sleepy lug Park Gang-Doo, adorable and smart Park Hyun-seo and the wise grandfather) are all perfectly thought out and wonderfully played, the story has lots of clever, weird or endearing elements and details in it and the monster itself is really a great concoction of weird, agile, filthy and brutal, all rolled into one. The fact that the little girl who is taken, does not survive, makes this one stand out even more within the monster-film standard.Really, a work of monster-film art. A big 9 out of 10.