The Host (2006)
"Gwoemul" (original title)

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

Director:

Joon-ho Bong

Writers:

Joon-ho Bong (screenplay), Won-jun Ha (screenplay),

Stars:

Kang-ho Song, Hie-bong Byeon, Hae-il Park

19 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kang-ho Song	...	Park Gang-Doo
Hie-bong Byeon	...	Park Hie-bong (as Byun Hee-bong)
Hae-il Park	...	Park Nam-il
Doona Bae	...	Park Nam-Joo (as Bae Doo-na)
Ah-sung Ko	...	Park Hyun-seo (as Ko A-sung)
Dal-su Oh	...	The Monster (voice)
Jae-eung Lee	...	Se-jin
Dong-ho Lee	...	Se-joo
Je-mun Yun	...	Homeless Man
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Anselmo	...	Donald (as David Joseph Anselmo)
Martin Lord Cayce	...	U.S. Senator
Cristen Cho
Philip Hersh	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Paul Lazar	...	US Doctor trying to operate Gang-Du
Brian Lee

Storyline

The film revolves around Park Hee-bong, a man in his late 60s. He runs a small snack bar on the banks of the Han River and lives with his two sons, one daughter, and one granddaughter. The Parks seem to lead a quite ordinary and peaceful life, but maybe they are a bit poorer than the average Seoulite. Hee-bong's elder son Gang-du is an immature and incompetent man in his 40s, whose wife left home long ago. Nam-il is the youngest son, an unemployed grumbler, and daughter Nam-joo is an archery medalist and member of the national team. One day, an unidentified monster suddenly appears from the depths of the Han River and spreads panic and death, and Gang-du's daughter Hyun-seo is carried off by the monster and disappears. All of the family members are in a great agony because they lost someone very dear to them. But when they find out she is still alive, they resolve to save her.

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Plot Keywords:

river | monster | daughter | han river | archery | 

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Taglines:

It is Lurking Behind You

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Genres:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for creature violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Hoycinema (Spanish) Official site [au]

Country:

South Korea Japan

Language:

Korean English

Release Date:

27 July 2006 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

The Host

Filming Locations:

Dong-ho Bridge, Seoul, South Korea

Box Office

Budget:

KRW 12,215,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$314,488 (USA) (9 March 2007)

Gross:

$2,201,412 (USA) (6 July 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Showbox Entertainment, Chungeorahm Film, Boston Investments

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min 110 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene where Nam-il kicks Gang-du at the funeral ceremony was improvised.

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Quotes

Suicidal jumper: You are dimwits, right to the end. I'll see you in hell.

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Crazy Credits

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

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Connections

Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.21 (2011)

User Reviews

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.