I had bever heard of this film until my boyfriend steered me in it's direction. We purchased The Host and Cloverfield at the same time and after watching Cloverfield first in all of it's hideous tediousness, The Host showed us how a proper monster film should be done.

These were characters you grew to know and actually care about, even if the lead character's personality WAS slightly confusing. There was one part of the film which I found a little over-the-top but it didn't spoil the film.

I thought the monster was great, although in my opinion, CGI is not usually a good thing.

Overall a great movie that I'll definitely watch again.

SOUTH KOREA is making some amazing films at the moment watch this for a world cinema gem. its becoming huge this film (even cloverfield nicked the monster design) its one of the most original brilliant films i have seen in a long time and have really been struck by the sheer excellence of the monster and characters in this truly great south korean hit!!!

i thought this was very good, it was different, had some very engaging characters, the monster was very well done, and completely different from what you might expect. i can understand why this film has its critics, but at the same time, you need to understand that this isnt going to be like a british, or american horror. if you like films that are a bit different, and watch with an open mind, i cant think why you wouldnt like it, great entertainment, and, at under a fiver, great value!.

Has to be the best monster movie so far. Loved the elements of humour coming from the male lead.
Can't wait for the sequel a must has to be seen.

not sure why this was so popular in japan,quite entertaining but there were long periods where nothing happens and i lost interest,if you want a brilliant monster movie go watch cloverfield

I should say first off that I really enjoyed this film - I didn't really know anything about it, but I know the director from his other work, and I'd heard some good things. It was a thoroughly entertaining watch!

On the good side, the creature, the 'Host', is superb, and it makes a great change to have it out in the open causing mayhem. It's movement and reactions are fantastic and more natural than Hollywood would ever allow, and it looks and feels like a real animal because of it. The first 'rampage' is thrilling, and gets things off to a fantastic start. The main characters, especially the father of the little girl taken by the creature, are brilliantly engaging, and I really cared about the outcome by the end.

There are some big problems with this film. The main one is a distinct lack of really chilling or frightening moments, although there are plenty of jaw-dropping and exciting ones instead! The fact that this film was made in Korea, and by a truly original director, are the main reasons for its appeal for me - the look and feel, the entire approach are different from what we expect, and it keeps your interest. However sometimes the differences distract from the story - the emotions of the characters at key moments sometimes seem very strange and jarred with my own.

Overall I would certainly recommend it - for those who enjoy Asian cinema, for horror fans who don't demand too many 'shocks' or for anyone who enjoys something a bit different from the norm. It's an original, enjoyable but somewhat flawed effort, and I'm not sure if I'll watch it again in the near future.

Was slightly dissapointed at this film, as from the hype i'd heard so much about it being a fantastic re-make.
And to a certain extent it was very enjoyable, the characters were well acted out and the humour was great, but i felt like the creature could have been played on a little bit more.
At the beginning chemical scene, it looked promising, so it would of been a good idea to introduce the creature a little less abruptly. Nevertheless i've watched it twice now and i laughed and jumped the second time around.
It is a great film, but i think i expected that little bit more!

Personally I did not think this film lived up to the hype. I was left disappointed on many fronts;

The CG is rather obvious and though they made the brave move to show the whole of the monster; it ultimately fails to impress because CG still looks hollow and lifeless.
The characters are unlikeable and the attempt to mix comedy with horror in the film is done badly; I neither laughed nor gasped in fright.

The film also suffers from choppy direction. We are left stranded in certain scenes while others take completely unexpected U-turns and the viewer is expected to just believe the character got from A to B.

It's also rather unbelievable. I know, I know; horror films are not meant to be believable, yet the amount of farce in the film and how badly everything is handled makes you wonder if the situation was really as dramatic as the film makes it out to be. They seem to be at odds to take the most ridiculous solution to what is only a relatively small problem.

Its attempt at political satire is also about as subtle as being slapped with a fish and thus fails to actually leave any lasting questions on American and western governmental practice.

It does have some things going for it though. In areas it is mildly scary and it also demonstrates how useful the homeless can be in a monster crises.

Yet ultimately, and to my disappointment I might add, a movie that tries to juggle too many genres and fails to do any of them well.

Was not sure when we first bought this film but after watching it we were pleasently suprised.
good story line throughout the film,good death scenes and the monster was very creative and the movement with CGI was very well done. good film

This is a new way of creating a monster movie.
It's now getting to the stage where the monster (that used to be left until the close of the movie to be shown, for fear of disapointing the audience) can be so believeable that it's there from the start - in full flow.
This has to be some of the best creature animation I've ever seen, and the monster is believeable, imaginative and perhaps even a little comic.
The cast give good performances (this is a comedy btw) and you should not be taking them seriously.
If you can cope with the subtitles, you will enjoy a really good, finely polished monster movie.