The Host
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: March 9, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
85
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
34
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The mix of dark humor, creeping suspense, and a sort of apocalyptic tenderness makes this the best horror flick in years. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
A great piece of filmmaking and a legitimate science-fiction/horror classic. Read full review
100
Film ThreatFelix Vasquez, Jr.
Joon-Ho's epic is a masterpiece of monster cinema that's intelligent, innovative, and reaches down to the basic core of family unity to propel its story beyond mere conventions of science fiction. Read full review
100
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
The Host isn't just a terrific monster movie. This South Korean box-office smash is also a laugh-out-loud comedy and a surprisingly angry political satire. Read full review
100
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
I have seen The Host twice and have every intention of watching it again. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Bong Joon-ho's wildly entertaining saga should become the hip, thinking-person's monster movie of choice. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
A cross between "Godzilla" and "Jaws," it manages to be both truly scary and truly funny – sometimes all at once. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The sudden turns of temperament are a treat after the smart-ass attitude of American horror flicks, and the film is full of minor surprises, squirming in unexpected directions without leaving the conventions behind. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
With a subversive streak as wide as the Han and a title open to interpretation, The Host confounds our expectations while providing top-notch entertainment. For Bong, the monster movie is an ample vessel, one that he can fill with social criticism while discovering exuberant amusement in the process. Read full review
90
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
The Host is a cautionary environmental tale about the domination of nature and the costs of human folly, and it may send chills up your spine. But only one will tickle your fancy and make you cry encore, not just uncle. Read full review
90
TimeRichard Corliss
If this madly entertaining movie has a fault, it's that it's too ingenious for the genre it ostensibly inhabits. Read full review
90
SlateDana Stevens
The movie pops up out of nowhere, grabs you in its big, messy tentacles, and drags you down into murky depths, where social satire coexists with slapstick, and B-movie clichés mutate into complex metaphors. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
The Host is a freewheeling mix of high style and goofy, good-natured fear-mongering. Read full review
88
PremiereGlenn Kenny
When the movie isn't being scary, it's crazily funny, so much so that critical watchers will wonder if Bong might tilt the balance of the picture too far in a comic direction and water down the scares. He doesn't. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The tone of The Host is slippery in the best way; you're never sure if you're in for a joke or a shock, yet nothing feels random. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
This Korean-made film takes the well-worn creature-feature genre and spins it on its head thrillingly. Read full review
88
New York PostV.A. Musetto
A fantastical genre-buster. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
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. Read full review
88
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Mostly, though, it's "Godzilla" with a severe case of Murphy's Law, and it is never less than bizarrely delightful. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Is it that scary? Yes. Will it reduce you to quivering jelly? Oh, my, yes! Does it bust the bonds of the Godzilla formula to fuse fright with feeling? Better believe it, dudes. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A wonderful, witty mix of horror and social satire, The Host takes its simple, time-tested premise - menacing creature terrorizes the populace - and runs with it. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The first 20 minutes of the South Korean film The Host represents one of the most entertaining movie openings in memory. It's the same kind of pop-culture thrill provided by Steven Spielberg's "Jaws," with the same sense of astonishment, fear and pleasure at something genuinely new. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Most of all, The Host functions as a popcorn movie par excellence, loaded with the most familiar conventions, but shot through with such conviction and visual panache that even its clichés seem invigorating. Read full review
80
VarietyDerek Elley
On almost every level, there's never quite been a monster movie like The Host. Egregiously subverting its own genre while still delivering shocks at a pure genre level, and marbled with straight-faced character humor that constantly throws the viewer off balance. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
The Host packs a lot into its two tumultuous hours: lyrically disgusting special effects, hair-raising chases, outlandish political satire, and best of all, a dysfunctional-family psychodrama--an odyssey that's like a grisly reworking of "Little Miss Sunshine." Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
The Host is a miracle of breathless play with form and tone that also seethes with attitude and ideas, from pure movie love to pointed sociopolitical commentary to a bleak existentialism about the inherent cruelty of our world. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
A thrilling ride and a sometimes dry, sometimes sweet comedy, but beneath all that is a humane and tragic view of life worthy of the greatest films. Even those without rubber monsters. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Bong's primary point is dead-on: Battling bureaucracy, from dishonest government leaders to indifferent civil servants, is the biggest horror of all. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
I never thought I'd crack up watching a family mourn the death of a beloved daughter. But I've never seen a film quite like The Host, and that's far from the most bizarre thing in it. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Although it strikes a perfect balance between otherworldly, slimy menace and 1950s B-movie cheesiness, The Host's computer-generated mutant isn't what makes this frantic, wild picture so much fun. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterElizabeth Kerr
Bong has pulled together a multilayered horror-drama that works more often than not. The film gets back on track after a clumsy middle section that's too long and finishes strong, and Bong fans, horror fans and Asiaphiles are likely to be thoroughly satisfied. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Gross-out horror is never far from comedy and The Host, Bong Joon-ho's giddy creature feature, has an anarchic mess factor worthy of a pile of old "Mad" magazines. Read full review
70
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It's the last thing anyone expected: an old-fashioned monster movie with a heart. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The Host is a strange little movie: part creature feature, part social commentary, and part slapstick comedy. 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. Read full review
58
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
In "Jaws," you didn't know whether to laugh or to scream. In The Host, the yocks rarely mesh with the yucks. Read full review
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