Gwoemul
Tags: comedy, realism, cult, horror, violence, satire

Plot synopsis:
In 2002, an American military pathologist orders his Korean assistant to dump 200 bottles of formaldehyde down a drain leading into the Han River. Over the next four years, there are sightings of a strange amphibious creature in the waterway, and the fish in the river die off. A suicidal man, just before jumping into the river, sees something dark moving in the water.
In 2006, a slow-witted young man named Park Gang-du (Song Kang-ho) runs a small snack-bar in a park near the River with his father, Hee-bong (Byun Hee-bong). Other family members are Gang-du's daughter, Hyun-seo (Go Ah-sung); his sister Nam-joo (Bae Doona), a national medalist archer; and his brother, Nam-il (Park Hae-il), an alcoholic college graduate and former political activist.
While Gang-du is delivering food to some customers, a huge creature emerges from the Han River and begins attacking people. Gang-du sees his daughter in the crowd and tries to grab her and run. As he realizes he grabbed on the wrong girl, he sees the creature snatching Hyun-seo and diving back into the river. After a mass funeral for the victims, government representatives and the American military arrive and quarantine people who had contact with the creature, including Gang-du and his family. It is announced that the creature is not only a direct danger, but also the host of a deadly, unknown virus.
Gang-du is in a hospital when he receives a phone call from Hyun-seo. She is on the phone long enough to explain that she is trapped somewhere in the sewers with the creature, but her phone stops working shortly after. Gang-du tries to explain this to others, but his claims go ignored by all except his family. The four of them escape the hospital. Hee-bong buys a truck, weapons, and a map of the sewers to look for Hyun-seo. They find a snack bar, have a meal and rest. Upon waking up, they encounter the creature. Soon, they discover their gun only serves to anger it, and Hee-bong gets himself killed buying time for his children to escape. Gang-du is captured by the Army. Nam-il and Nam-joo escape but are separated from each other.
Two homeless boys, Se-jin and Se-joo, are searching for food when they are attacked and swallowed by the creature. It returns to its sleeping area in the sewer, a large hole, and regurgitates them. Only Se-Joo is alive. Hyun-seo helps Se-Joo hide in a spot the creature cannot reach.
Nam-il meets an old friend to trace the location of Hyun-seo's call. He learns that the government has placed a bounty on his family. The friend tries to capture Nam-il, but he manages to escape after obtaining Hyun-seo's general location. He texts the location to Nam-joo and Gang-du. He meets a homeless man (Yoon Je-moon) who knows about the quarantine but decided to stay in the city. After learning of Nam-il's intentions, the man decides to help him. Gang-du overhears the scientists discussing the fact that there is no virus; it is all made up to distract people from the creature's origin. The scientists decide to lobotomize Gang-du to silence him. Gang-du escapes by taking one of the nurses hostage and continues searching for his daughter.
Back in the sewers, while the creature is sleeping, Hyun-seo makes a rope from old clothes and uses it to get out of the hole. She realizes too late that the creature only feigns sleep to lure her out of her hiding spot. Hyun-seo and Se-joo are swallowed by the creature.
The government announces the plan to release a chemical called Agent Yellow into the river and the surrounding area, hoping it will kill the creature. Gang-du finds the creature's sleeping spot but sees no one there. As Gang-du climbs down to the hole, the monster passes over him. He sees Hyun-seo's arm hanging out of its mouth and gives chase, meeting Nam-joo on the way. The creature makes its way to the location where Agent Yellow is released and a large crowd has formed in protest.
As the creature attacks the crowd, Agent Yellow is released, which appears to stun the creature. Gang-du pulls Hyun-seo out of its mouth and sees her still clutching Se-joo. The boy is still alive, but Hyun-seo is already dead.
As the creature wakes up, Gang-du starts to attack it but is knocked to the ground. Nam-il and the homeless man come to Gang-du's aid. While Nam-il throws Molotov cocktails at the creature, the homeless man pours gasoline onto it. Nam-il accidentally drops his last bottle. Nam-joo picks up the flaming cloth from the bottle with one of her arrows and fires it at the creature, setting it on fire. Before the creature can escape into the water, Gang-du impales it with a metal pole, finally killing it. As Nam-il and Nam-joo hold Hyun-seo, mourning her death, Gang-du picks up Se-joo and takes him to safety.
In the final scene, Gang-du has adopted Se-joo. The two live in his food stand, and he still watches over the river. They have a meal together, ignoring a news broadcast about the aftermath of the incident.

Review: You might begin to think as I tend to that the rest of your cinema going days will be spent avoiding such appalling Hollywood "Crap-busters" such as Godzilla or (enter current relevant movie here ;-) This film proves that adults can still be taken back...taken back to staring at the silver screen in wonder.
The central scene is the one that sees the monster first appear from the river and The Host never really tops that sequence; but regardless of that this is the best monster movie I've seen in years and not even the downer ending could wipe a smile off my face when it finished.
This is a movie which will go straight into "best monster movies" lists; it is ground-breaking in the way humorous and horror content has been intertwined by a master film director.
I usually hate horror movies, but I enjoyed this action/horror/drama end to end and I left the cinema with a strong feeling of contentness.The horror was actually quite interesting, as were each of the main actors and the relationships between them were surprising and amusing, with some really witty sub themes thrown in along the way and some good suspense as well.The movie had great undertones and conversation topics to keep you talking to your friends for hours.Overall: It was a really enjoyable experience, witty and well constructed..
let alone Japanese...however it wasn't difficult to grasp the story or get caught up with the characters and the situation.This film is comical in parts and borders on science fiction, drama and even horror, but it is really fantastic to watch and displays a lot of emotion and realistic reactions.
The special effects are excellent, the characters are believable and it is one movie well worth watching even if it is in a different language.
The movie can be taken as a straightforward monster flick, a dark comedy, a sentimental drama, or a rich socio-political allegory.For the sake of this review, let's approach it as more than an action/comedy/horror flick, and let's assume it's a deeper allegory.
I think that's what makes this seemingly-ordinary monster flick into a powerful film.Right in the first scene, the director sets the tone with a caricature of Western (U.S.) muddling.
The story is about a monster that terrorizes the banks of the Han River and grabs a young girl, prompting her bumbling family to lead a rescue effort, with no help from the Korean authorities.
Gang-Do and his family evade the authorities and use all the money they have to desperately continue their quest.The reason I picked up this movie in the first place is because the box said that it was "on par with Jaws." I found this hard to believe but the monster in The Host is the one of the most cinematically pleasing CG creations in recent years and is probably the most original looking monster since Alien.
The movie keeps the viewer wanting to see more of the monster while, at the same time, keeping them satisfied with the number of appearances.The Park family does a pretty good job of keeping the audience entertained while the monster is off screen.
If you want to watch something that is not meant to be in your language, you've just got to go with what you get.I started off saying that this is one of the best monster movies in years, and it is.
It has some flaws but the originality of the monster and the simplicity of the plot makes this movie very easy to follow and worth watching at the very least.
The whole "monster terrorizing an Asian town" seems like it has been done a million times (because it has), but this movie has some new things to offer.
With awful execution, lame 'effects' and, above all else, a bloody stupid idea, the result was laughable.It struck me as amusing, then, that The Host, a hugely successful South Korean monster flick, uses a similar premise to my shot-on-video crap-fest (but admittedly features an impressively rendered CGI beast rather than a badly made clay model with marbles for eyes).
The monster has her trapped in a sewer and it is only a matter of time before its appetite will return...What might have been an exciting race against time (to rescue the poor kid in peril) is turned into a yawn-a-minute snooze-athon by the introduction of several more members of the missing girl's family, an unnecessary subplot about a possible virus (which is passed on by the lolloping mutant), and the subsequent planned use of chemicals to deal with the problem.Rather than allowing our heroes to just get on and hunt down the beast, director Joon-ho Bong spends far too long showing us Park Gang-Du suffer at the hands of heartless scientists, his attempts at escape, and the rising tension in the city as the military prepare to use the ominous sounding 'Agent Yellow' to wipe out the supposed disease.
All momentum is lost, and the film stalls, never to recover.The special effects are very well executed, but even though the ten-ton tadpole is nicely animated, it does suffer from being a rather poorly designed, and not particularly memorable, movie monster: a tentacle here, a flipper there, and some snappy jaws, but lacking the 'wow factor' necessary for inclusion in the movie monster hall of fame.Don't believe the hype: The Host really doesn't deserve the praise that has been heaped upon it.
After all the critics said THE HOST is the "best monster movie of all time", "seriously scary" and all that jazz, I thought it would be a great movie to rent.
Others have already written details on why it was so bad, but count me as another one who felt duped into giving up my cash and 2 hours of my life to watch this un-suspenseful, non-campy piece of crap.The box contains a "review" that compares it to Jaws, but there is no comparison except that sometimes water is involved and the monster may be part fish.
The first film I saw on the big screen was a monster movie (the original GODZILLA at a matinée for kids) and decided to watch THE HOST on cable TV because of my fondness for the genre.
The performance's were comical, killing any suspense, and the creature was both not scary or intriguing in any shape or form, unless you think a giant shrimp is something to wet your pants over.In all the movie was boring, a labor to sit through and I personally wouldn't suggest any one dignify 5 minutes let alone a couple of hours wasting their time when there are a "host" of other movies that can be entertained.I didn't reveal any plot points, because I'm sure there's plenty of you out there who would rather walk through that door anyhow...
MONSTER - He was great; I loved the special-effects which created this monster which looked like an updated version of "The Creature From the Black Lagoon." The scenes with this beast roaming the land and capturing people ranged from good to jaw-dropping.SOCIAL COMMENTARY: Much of the story takes place in the quarantine area as the doctors (under orders from the government) state that SARS-like disease is out there.
The main family featured in the film has to watch from a distance while the young girl in their family, presumed dead, was hauled off by the creature.MORAL: A typical "don't pollute the water" message because this is what can happen - a horrible mutated monster.
I don't know if the Korean sense of humor is that pitiful, or the film was purposely trying to be ultra-corny with a take on the old "Godzilla" movies.
That might have been a mistake as the Korean guttural voice sounds got annoying after a half hour.OVERALL - This had a promise but turned out to be a big letdown and even boring in too many spots, which is inexcusable for a modern-day monster film.
The special effects are great, the film is crisply shot and the part about the father trying to find his daughter who was captured by this monster is very good.
My 5 years old would say that the Ninja Turtles are real monsters by comparing it with this big fish who can run on the streets and has a rat tail.The Host, however, tries without success to offer a little bit of everything a little bit of sci-fi horror, a little bit of drama, a little bit of action, and a little bit of comedy.
The rest of it, story, acting, plot, pace all went to the bottom of the river like the monster.And to think this movie earned more than "Transformers" in Korea!
Not only does the movie have a bit of character development but it also presses on several political issues involving America's stay in Korea, government cover-ups, pollution, changing generations in Korea, and some other obscure and obtuse ideas.One thing that I can truly respect this film for is that it feels very down to earth and casual.
The film also makes too much of the grim fate of the 13 year old girl, which is just pure cynical movie-making and jars with the supposedly amusing folly of adjoining scenes.What amazes me so much is that I hate this film despite liking so many different kinds of horror, be it cheesy, serious or satirical, Western or Eastern.
It has everything: suspense, energy, love, humor, pathos, political intrigue, and lots of unique imagination compared to your typical monster movie.An American scientist in a lab in Korea orders a Korean clerk to dispose of large quantities of formaldehyde in the Han River at Seoul (this at least was based on a true incident).
I watched "Gwoemul" aka "The Host" expecting a campy monster movie in the style of Godzilla or Cloverfield and while I was watching it I learned it was actually a social critique of post-modern South-Korean society and most particular the destructive nature of American political and cultural influence.
Now storyline: Which one to complain about  The family feud, the old man with the shop (who can't act), the drunken uncle (who can't act), the loser son (who can't act) with daughter (best actress in the film), a scary monster, a pandemic, Americans trying to muscle in on the poor Koreans who don't want them there...they're all bad.
Know going in that the best monster scene is right up front in this movie.
An important parallel story line is lost and doesn't develop at all.Really by the end, sad to say, this is more like, than unlike, too many bad CG monster movies that clog up Sci Fi Channel.
So best thing is to forget the hype and then enjoy the first 20 minutes or so of this, overlong let down of a movie by the end.Monster looks like a cross between "Blinky" the three eyed fish on The Simpsons and "The Relic." Though this film is better than The Relic, it's not as good as Blinky.Expect less and you might enjoy this film more.
Synopsis: This movie is about a monster that gets created because some American dude made some other Korean dude dump some sort of toxic chemical into the Han River.
In the end the product is one that will make you think and re consider this movie on many different levels making you want to watch it over and over again.Things to Watch Out For: The main idea of the movie isn't really about killing the monster or finding Hyun Soo. It's about questioning society and human nature.
A huge box office hit in Korea, The Host is a good old-fashioned monster movie, and a lot more.
The director introduced the screening by saying that the film isn't really a monster movie at all, but an emotional Korean family drama, and he's right, mostly.The family in question is a strange one.
And Kang-du is just generally lazy and a bit dim-witted.There is quite a bit of humour in the way the family members interact, as well as a fair bit of social and political satire at the expense of both the Korean and U.S. governments (the Americans are blamed for dumping toxic waste that created the monster in the first place).
Strong monster movie that finds an unique way to mix Horror, Comedy, Drama and Social Commentary..
Now the family are working together to find their family member, while the city is controlled by the U.S. Military/Korean Government.Directed by Bong Joon-ho (Barking Dogs Never Bite, Memories of Murder) made an highly entertaining Monster movie that is quite original.
I am no big fan of monster movies, and while I like horror films I suffered too often watching them recently because of the inflation of films in the genre, so it is very hard to satisfy me here.
Korea's top-grossing film of all time The Host (the original Korean title is "Creature") is a monster movie with a difference.
Seen by ten million people during the first three weeks of its Korean release, the film directed by Bong Joon-ho (Memories of Murder), combines genre-typical special effects with family drama, comedy, and political satire.
Like most monster movies there are plot holes everywhere, which you're not supposed to think about; and the villain -- the US military and their Korean buddies -- is way too broad and obvious (not to mention that the actors are awful).
But this wasn't just a great new flick, it was also supposed to be the "best monster movie since Godzilla".
If by any chance you go to your local video store this weekend looking for whatever's hot in the new movie releases on DVD, skip the Hollywood stuff and go straight for "The Host," South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's sci-fi monster action epic that received little attention here in the United States, but is one of the highest-grossing movies in South Korea.
I remember listening to a radio station on the morning of Tuesday July 24, 2007, and the DJ announced the new releases on DVD; I was startled to learn that "The Host" was not on that list.That's America for you."The Host" is not like most sci-fi movies produced in Japan or the United States, in that it places an unusual amount of attention on the characters, rather than action and special effects, and with plenty of comedy, family drama and political satire, it's easy to forget that first and foremost, "The Host" is a monster movie, and a damn good one too."The Host" is a movie I've waited for over a year to see and when I finally saw it, I was not the slightest bit disappointed.
As a fan of monster movies and Godzilla in particular, "The Host" doesn't disappoint in this department, but its charm is the thriving and living cast of Korean actors (many of whom are unknown to American audiences), not the nasty amphibian running amok and eating people.
The Host is a joy to look at it like all of the other Korean films I've seen, yet the special effects are, despite how entertaining they are, a bit noticeably unreal.
I just saw "The Host" at the Chicago International Film Festival along with a full house, and was blown away by the best giant monster movie I've ever seen.
It wasn't a horror or good "creature feature." It was a movie that should have been on mst3k(Mystery Science Theater 3000, for those of you who don't know), then maybe it would have been more enjoyable to watch.
The Host (2006) I not seen this movie for a really long time, i thought it was time for Re-watch,When I first saw this movie, I thought it was great , It's had really nice mix of Action, Drama and some very funny moment that will make you laugh out loud The creature effect was really good in this movie, Very well made and some , also liked about this movie is that you can see number of times daylight and in DarkThere are some very bloody moments in this movie, they not to gory at all and the acting in this movie was outstanding from the whole cast.Subtitled are really good in this movie, they parts don't even need the Subs as parts of the movie are English.
A prologue sequence indirectly explains the origins of the massive grey blob that looks like a squid monster, which is the result of a mutation of a water organism caused by toxic chemicals released into the river by an American military base.Bong's film is the contemporary answer to Ishiro Honda's Godzilla (1954), and George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968).
THE GOOD: The Host is a fun monster movie that's elevated slightly above the Hollywood hum-drum because it spends time developing likable characters and clear relationships.
It is action and comedy South Korea movie.A monster lives in Han river.
We were discussing good sea monster movies on the boards one day, and all I could really think of was "The Host." Sure, the original "Godzilla" is a masterpiece (Japanese version, please) and "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" still holds up for those of us who like swimming alone, and "Deep Rising" is a hoot, but there's not a lot out there with a super cool monster AND story.
It's not a traditional sea monster movie, and I'm sure a lot of people won't know what the hell to think, but it's well worth a look..
Featuring great drama, effective splashes of dark comedy,intense creature sequences and unexpected outcomes for the characters, this fresh allegory is one of the most politically charged South Korean films of the decade through one of the cleverest disguises mimicking what Hollywood cinema loves to do.
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.