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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 international buzz. Utilizing state-of-the-art special effects courtesy of a creative partnership between Weta Workshop (King Kong, The Lord of the Rings) and The Orphanage (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Sin City), THE HOST is equal parts creature-feature thrill ride and poignant human drama.
Gang-du (SONG Kang-ho) works at a food-stand on the banks of the Han River. Dozing on the job, he is awakened by his daughter, Hyun-seo ( KO A-sung), who is angry with him for missing a teacher-parent meeting at school. As Gang-du walks out to the riverbank with a delivery, he notices that a large crowd of people has gathered, taking pictures and talking about something hanging from the Han River Bridge. The otherwise idyllic landscape turns suddenly to bedlam when a terrifying creature climbs up onto the riverbank and begins to crush and eat people. Gang-du and his daughter run for their lives but suddenly the thing grabs Hyun-seo and disappears back into the river. The government announces that the thing apparently is the Host of an unidentified virus. Having feared the worst, Gang-du receives a phone call from his daughter who is frightened, but very much alive. Gang-du makes plans to infiltrate the forbidden zone near the Han River to rescue his daughter from the clutches of the horrifying Host…
 
Director...
BONG Joon-ho
Screenplay...
BONG Joon-ho
HAH Joon-won
BAEK Chul-hyun
Original Story...
BONG Joon-ho
Producer...
CHOI Yong-bae
Executive Producers...
CHOI Yong-bae
KIM Woo-taek
JEONG Tae-sung
Co-Producer...
JOH Neung-yeon
Cinematography...
KIM Hyung-goo
Lighting...
LEE Kang-san
JUNG Young-min
Production Design...
RYU Seong-hee
Visual Effects Supervisor...
Kevin Rafferty
Wardrobe...
CHO Sang-kyung
Park Kang-du... SONG KANG-HO
Park Hee-bong... BYUN HEE-BONG
Park Nam-il... PARK HAE-IL
Park Nam-joo... BAE DOO-NA
Park Hyun-seo... KO A-SUNG
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“ONE OF THE GREATEST MONSTER MOVIES EVER MADE.” – Logan Hill, New York Magazine
“A TERRIFIC HYBRID-GENRE FANTASY AND A SERIOUSLY SCARY FREAKOUT. Tensely wound scenes as effective as any in ‘War of the Worlds’. The best film I’ve seen at this year’s Cannes Film Festival” – Manohla Dargis, New York Times
“THE OUT AND OUT SCARIEST MONSTER MOVIE TO COME DOWN THE PIKE SINCE ‘ALIENS’. Crazily funny and wildly entertaining.” – Glenn Kenny, Premiere
“I HAVE SEEN THE HOST TWICE AND HAVE EVERY INTENTION OF WATCHING IT AGAIN. A thing of beauty, the perfect mixture of the silly and the grave.” – Anthony Lane, The New Yorker
“A SENSATIONAL FILM. The Host packs a lot into its two tumultuous hours: hair raising chases, outlandish political satire, and best of all, a dysfunctional family psychodrama, an odyssey that’s like a reworking of ‘Little Miss Sunshine’.” – David Edelstein, New York Magazine
“WHAT A PLEASURE TO WATCH AN AMBITIOUS HORROR FILM THAT NOT ONLY FRIGHTENS, BUT SURPRISES AND ENGAGES US COMPLETELY.” – Claudia Puig, USA Today
“A KNOCKOUT MONSTER MOVIE FOR BOTH HORROR FANS AND THOSE WHO USUALLY AVOID SUCH FARE.” – Leah Rozen, People
“THIS WILDLY ENTERTAINING FILM SHOULD BECOME THE THINKING PERSON’S MONSTER MOVIE OF CHOICE.” – Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
“MADLY ENTERTAINING. See the real thing now.” – Richard Corliss, Time
“A LEGITIMATE SCIENCE FICTION/HORROR CLASSIC. It’s the rare movie in its genre that will be discussed, debated and interpreted for years to come. 5 stars” – Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle
“YOU MUST, MUST, MUST SEE THIS MOVIE! Director Bong begins with basic monster movie conventions and blows them out of the water with phenomenal action, horror thrills, political satire and cockeyed character dynamics. IT’S A DREAM FUSION OF ‘JAWS’ AND ‘LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE’.” – Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
“WONDROUS. An old fashioned monster movie with a heart.” – Steven Hunter, Washington Post
“Never less than bizarrely delightful. The monster is mesmerizing.” – Ty Burr, Boston Globe
“THE HOST MIGHT BE THE FIRST MUST-SEE MONSTER MOVIE SINCE 1954.” - Eric Henriksen, Portland Mercury
“MOVIE MAGIC? YOU’RE SOAKING IN IT. AN ABSOLUTELY CORKING GIANT MONSTER MOVIE.” – Andrew Wright, The Stranger
“A CLASSIC MOVIE MONSTER HAS BEEN UNLEASHED. Its introductory rampage instantly qualifies as one of the best monster attack scenes ever. – Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times
“THE BEST MONSTER MOVIE OF THE 21st CENTURY. A great movie that just might become a classic.” – Jonathan L. Knapp, San Francisco Bay Guardian
“A MONSTER MOVIE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY.” – Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times
“ONE HELLUVA MONSTER MOVIE.” – Jim Emerson, Chicago Sun-Times
“THE HOST IS A TRIP. A wonderful, witty and terrific film.” – Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
“A SMASHING ENTERTAINMENT! The wildest and weirdest movie to hit screens in quite some time.” – Sean Burns, Philadelphia Weekly
AN ECSTATIC MONSTER MOVIE, as terrifying as it is funny.” – Eleanor Gillespie Ringel, Atlanta Journal Constitution
“ON ALMOST EVERY LEVEL THERE’S NEVER BEEN A MONSTER MOVIE LIKE THE HOST. A bold gamble that looks headed to instant cult status.” – Derek Elley, Variety
“**** Freakily delightful and totally gripping. The Host zings from dark comedy to cold thrills to honest touches of sadness.” – Troy Patterson, Spin
“THE HOST is the most original, exhilaratingly scary-funny monster movie in many a season. Hands down the year’s best genre entertainment and then some.” – Scott Foundas, LA Weekly.
“THE BEST SUMMER MOVIE YOU’LL SEE THIS YEAR IS COMING OUT SEVERAL MONTHS EARLY. As thought-provoking as it is scary, it will make anybody’s inner 12-year-old squeal with unbridled delight.” – David Fear, Blender
“TRULY THRILLING. It just kicks butt from start to finish.” – Christy Lemire, AP
“A TERRIFIC FILM. The first appearance of the monster ranks among the most thrilling and imaginative action sequences in recent memory. Director Bong demonstrates a facility for virtuosic mayhem to rival Spielberg.” – Mike D’Angelo, Nerve.com
“On a par with JAWS” – Harry Knowles, Ain’t It Cool News
“Quite possibly the wisest, most moving monster movie ever made.” - Chicago Reader
“A TERRIFIC MONSTER MOVIE WITH HUMOR AND HEART. If there is a God, this beyond-fabulous movie will be as big a hit here as it was in Asia.” – Dennis Dermody, Paper
“It’s exactly the opposite of what you’re expecting, and you immediately love the film for it…A monster movie for people who want to see something completely different.”
-Latauro, Ain’t It Cool News
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