The Host (2006 film) explained

The Host
Director:Bong Joon-ho
Story:Bong Joon-ho
Producer:Choi Yong-bae
Music:Lee Byung-woo
Cinematography:Kim Hyeong-gu
Editing:Kim Sun-min
Studio:Chungeorahm Film
Runtime:119 minutes
Language:Korean
English

The Host is a 2006 monster film written and directed by Bong Joon-ho. It stars Song Kang-ho as vendor Park Gang-du whose daughter Hyun-seo (Go Ah-sung) is kidnapped by a creature dwelling around the Han River. Byun Hee-bong, Park Hae-il, and Bae Doona appear in supporting roles as Gang-du's father, brother, and sister respectively. A South Korean-Japanese co-production, the film was produced by Chungeorahm Film with Showbox and Happinet presenting.

Bong had been conceiving a monster movie since his adolescence, inspired by the Godzilla and Ultraman franchises. The catalyst for The Host was a scandal that occurred in 2000, in which an American commanded the disposal of formaldehyde down a drain leading to the Han River. Bong devised the story of a monster resulting from this incident and proposed it two years later. In 2003, he started scripting The Host with Ha Joon-won, and directed a short film set around the Han River featuring Byun. Baek Chul-hyun joined Bong and Ha for revision in December 2004. Principal photography mostly took place on location near the Han River. Wētā Workshop modeled the film's creature and The Orphanage handled the visual effects. Of the film's budget, was spent on the over 100 visual effect shots.

An unfinished cut of The Host debuted at the 59th Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2006, as part of the Directors' Fortnight. The finished film was released in South Korea on July 27 and Japan on September 2. It became the highest-grossing South Korean film of all time, earning worldwide. Many critics praised The Host as among the best films of 2006 or 2007. The film also won several accolades, including the Asian Film Award for Best Film. A sequel and an American remake were later announced, but neither materialized.

In recent years, The Host has been hailed as one of the best monster and horror films of the 21st century, and listed among the greatest science fiction films ever made. Seen as a landmark of South Korean cinema, it remains among the country's highest-grossing films. The film had a resurgence in popularity upon Bong gaining further international recognition for Parasite (2019). Some retrospective reviews have felt that The Host has grown in relevance as elements came to reflect the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plot

In 2000, an American pathologist orders his Korean assistant to dump over 100 bottles of formaldehyde down a drain leading into the Han River. Over the next few years, several sightings of a strange amphibious creature in the waterway around Seoul occur, and the inhabiting fish mysteriously die off.

In 2006, Park Gang-du, a slow-witted man, runs a small snack bar in Hangang Park with his father, Hee-bong. Gang-du's other family members include his daughter, Hyun-seo; his sister Nam-joo, a famed national medalist archer; and his brother, Nam-il, an unemployed college graduate.

A large creature emerges from the Han River and begins attacking and killing many people ashore. After trying to help an American combat the monster, Gang-du grabs his daughter and joins the fleeing crowd, but inadvertently lets go of her hand. The monster snatches Hyun-seo and dives back into the river. After a mass funeral for the victims, those in attendance are forced to be quarantined, including the Park family. Government representatives and the United States Forces Korea (USFK) proclaim that the creature hosts a deadly, unknown virus.

Gang-du receives a phone call from Hyun-seo. She explains that she is trapped in the sewers with the creature, but her phone stops working. Gang-du and his family escape the hospital and purchase supplies from gangsters to search for Hyun-seo. Two homeless boys, Se-jin and Se-joo, are attacked and swallowed by the creature. It returns to its sleeping area in the sewer and regurgitates them, but only Se-joo is alive. Hyun-seo helps Se-joo hide inside a drain pipe where the creature cannot reach them.

The Park family encounters the monster and shoot at it until they run out of ammunition. Seemingly unharmed by the bullets, the creature kills Hee-bong and runs off. After the army capture Gang-du, Nam-il and Nam-joo travel elsewhere separately. Nam-il meets an old friend nicknamed "Fat Guevara", at an office for assistance and learns the government has placed a bounty on his family. Unbeknownst to Nam-il, Fat Guevara has contacted officials to claim the bounty, but Nam-il escapes after obtaining Hyun-seo's location, near the Wonhyo Bridge. Elsewhere, Gang-du overhears an American doctor saying the virus is a hoax invented to distract the public from the creature's origin. They decide to lobotomize Gang-du to silence him.

When the creature is sleeping, Hyun-seo tries to escape from its lair using a rope she has made from old clothes. The monster awakes and swallows Hyun-seo and Se-joo. Meanwhile, Gang-du succeeds in escaping from where he is being held by taking a nurse hostage. The government and USFK announce a plan to release a toxic chemical called "Agent Yellow" around the river to kill the monster. Gang-du finds the creature and sees Hyun-seo's arm dangling from its mouth. He chases it to where the chemical will be released, meeting Nam-joo along the way. It attacks the large crowd that has assembled to protest the chemical dump. Agent Yellow is released, stunning the beast. Gang-du pulls Hyun-seo out of its mouth, discovering that she has died while clutching Se-joo, who is unconscious but alive. Enraged by her death, Gang-du attacks the creature, aided by Nam-il, Nam-joo, and a homeless man. They set it ablaze and Gang-du impales it with a pole, finally killing it. As they mourn for Hyun-seo, Gang-du revives Se-joo.

Sometime later, Gang-du inherits his father's snack bar and adopts Se-joo. While watching the river, he hears a noise and investigates but finds nothing. He and Se-joo share a meal, ignoring a news broadcast stating that the incident's aftermath was due to misinformation.

Cast

Scott Wilson, David Joseph Anselmo,, and Clinton Morgan play Americans stationed in South Korea (Douglas, the pathologist; Sergeant Donald White; a doctor who speaks with Gang-du; and an AY Agent, respectively).[1] [2] Filmmaker Yim Pil-sung, a friend of writer-director Bong Joon-ho, portrays Nam-il's senior 'Fat Guevara'.[3] Other cast members include as Se-jin; Yoon Je-moon as a homeless man; Kim Roi-ha as 'Yellow 1' (at the funeral); Go Soo-hee as the nurse who Gang-du takes hostage; and Brian Lee as Mr. Kim (the pathologist's assistant). The antagonizing Han River monster is voiced by Oh Dal-su.[4]

Production

Development

According to Bong, The Host was a longtime passion project he had dreamed of since high school. He became a fan of the kaiju genre during his youth by frequently viewing entries in the Godzilla and Ultraman franchises on the American Forces Korea Network (AFKN), and was frustrated by the lack of South Korean monster movies. In a 2006 interview, Bong mentioned these as possible influences on The Host and indicated that it pays homage to the kaiju genre.[5] On another occasion, Bong claimed that he once saw a creature crawling up and falling off the Jamsil Bridge during his youth, and "that day I promised myself to make a film about this if I became a director, at all costs".[6]

In 2000, Bong was further encouraged to make his own monster movie in response to the widely-reported :[7] [8] "Like Godzilla was created due to the nuclear bomb in Hiroshima, my monster was motivated from the McFarland scandal."[9] The scandal involved an American named Albert McFarland ordering his mortician employees to dump around 470 bottles containing formaldehyde into the Han River via a drain.[10] [11] [12] In addition to environmental concerns, this caused some antagonism toward the United States.[13] The film's opening scene was directly based upon this event, with Scott Wilson playing a McFarland-esque character named Douglas.

Bong proposed the film roughly two years later and started writing the script with Ha Joon-won in 2003; Baek Chul-hyun joined the pair to revise scripting for the film in December 2004. In 2003, Bong directed the short film Sink and Rise, which is now considered to be a prequel to the film.[14]

The film was the third feature-length film directed by Bong. Following the positive reaction to his directorial debut, Barking Dogs Never Bite, and the critical acclaim and box-office success of his preceding film, Memories of Murder, The Host was granted a generous production budget of around [15], huge by local industry standards.[16] Due to his second film's success, The Host was highly anticipated.[6]

Filming

Some of the filming took place in the real sewers near the Han River, rather than on a set. The stars and crew were inoculated against tetanus by the medical officer. During filming, the crew had to deal with the effects of changes in weather and ambient temperature. This included the sewage water freezing in cold temperatures so that it had to be broken up and melted; and during hot and windy periods, the water evaporated and the silt turned to dust, which blew around in the breeze and into the faces of the crew.[17]

Visual effects

The director had to work around the budget-imposed restrictions, especially when it came to special effects. Chin Wei-chen designed the monster, the modeling was done by New Zealand-based Weta Workshop and the animatronics were by John Cox's creature Workshop.[18] The CGI for the film was done by The Orphanage, which also did some of the visual effects in The Day After Tomorrow.[19] Bong stated that, of the film's budget, was spent on the over 100 visual effect shots.

The monster was designed with some specific characteristics in mind. According to the director himself, the inspiration came from a local article about a deformed fish with an S-shaped spine caught in the Han River.[20] Therefore, the director's wishes were for it to look like an actual mutated fish-like creature, rather than having a more fantastical design. In the opening scenes, two fishermen presumably encounter the creature whilst it is still small enough to fit in one of their cups; suggestive of its humble, more realistic origins. The monster also exhibits frontal limbs similar to amphibians' legs. This element of its design seems to have been more a choice of functionality on the designers' part as the monster needed to be able to run and perform certain acrobatic movements during the film. For a genre film monster, the creature's size is rather small, only about the size of a truck. Also unlike in many other monster-themed films, the creature is fully visible from early on in the film, sometimes for large periods and even in broad daylight, which earned the film critical praise.[21]

Release

The Host premiered incomplete[6] at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2006, as part of the Directors' Fortnight. In South Korea, it was released on July 27, 2006.[22] Having been heavily promoted and featuring one of the most popular leading actors in the country, Song Kang-ho, the film was released on a record number of screens and made the South Korean record books with its box office performance during its opening weekend. The 2.63 million admissions and box office revenue easily beat the previous records set by Typhoon.[23] [24] The film reached six million viewers on August 6, 2006.[25] In early September, the film became South Korea's all-time box office leader, selling more than 12.3 million tickets in just over a month in a country of 48.5 million. By the end of its run on November 8, the viewing figures came in at 13,019,740.

According to Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), The Host became Bong's first film to receive a wide international release.[26] The film was released theatrically in Australia on August 17, 2006. In Japan, the film was highly anticipated but became a box office bomb upon its September 2, 2006 release, placing seventh in its opening weekend.[27] South Korean analyst Kim Bong-seok noted: "The recent Godzilla film was a box office failure, and the tastes of young audiences are changing. In addition, the audience base of Korean movies that have gained popularity due to the Korean Wave so far is different from the audience base of monster movies, which seems to have had a negative effect." It received a theatrical release in the United Kingdom on November 10, 2006. This was its first official release outside of film festivals and outside Asia and Australia. Its American release was on March 9, 2007. It was also released in France, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, and Spain, amongst other countries.

The Host received screenings at several film festivals. In addition to its opening in Cannes, among the most prominent were the Toronto, Tokyo, and New York film festivals. The film swept Korea's Blue Dragon Awards: The Host received five awards, Go Ah-sung took Best New Actress, and Byun Hee-bong was awarded Best Supporting Actor.[28]

Worldwide, it grossed around, holding the record for the highest-grossing South Korean film.[29] According to the box-office tracking websites Box Office Mojo and the Numbers, The Host earned in the United States and Canada and to in other territories. This gives the film a worldwide total of to .[30] [31]

Reception

Critical response

The Host opened to widespread critical praise, and later became one of the most acclaimed films released in the United States during 2007.[32]

Manohla Dargis cited it as the greatest film shown at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Dargis wrote in The New York Times: "The Host is a loopy, feverishly imaginative genre hybrid about the demons that haunt us from without and within."[33] The Tokyo Shimbun spoke positiviely of how the film has a "different taste" from American horror movies. The Asahi Shimbun praised the "eventful" script, "light tone", special effects, themes, suspense, and humor. Adrian Martin highlighted Bae Doona's performance, and said that her partnership with Bong "adds a dimension that no American blockbuster can even approach".[34] According to the Korean Film Council, Bong's collaboration with Song and Bae "has often been praised for its entertainment value in combination with social and political commentary". Wilson's performance was praised by RogerEbert.com, noting that he was "clearly having fun".[35]

Several publications listed it among the top films of 2006 or 2007. In IndieWire's 2007 critics poll, it placed 17th on their Best Film list based on 19 mentions; Bong also tied at 16th for Best Director.[36]

Accolades

See main article: List of accolades received by The Host (2006 film). The Host was nominated in various categories at Asian award ceremonies, particularly for Bong's direction, Kim Hyung-koo's cinematography, and Song's performance.[37] At the 1st Asian Film Awards ceremony held in March 2007, the film dominated the competition and won four out of its five nominations. It became the first to win the Best Film, Best Actor (Song), Best Cinematographer (Kim Hyung-koo), and Best Visual Effects (The Orphanage) categories.[38] In South Korea, The Host won six Blue Dragon Film Awards; five Korean Film Awards; there Director's Cut Awards; and two Grand Bell Awards. Go was nominated for the Baeksang Arts Award for Best New Actress as well as the Grand Bell Award and Korean Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.[39] She also won the Blue Dragon Film Award for Best New Actress and Director's Cut Award for Best Actress (the latter jointly with Bae).

The film also received awards from various Western ceremonies, critics' organizations, and film festivals. Among its nominations were Best International Film and Best Young Actor/Actress (Go) at the 33rd Saturn Awards,[40] and the Belgian Film Critics Association's Grand Prix.[41] The film won Best Director in Competition (Bong) at Fantasporto and the Golden Raven at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival.

Plagiarism controversy

Some Japanese and South Korean viewers perceived that The Host strongly resembled the 2002 anime thriller film . The disclosed that these comparisons resulted in a "plagiarism suspicion uproar". Similarities noted by Internet users included the anti-Americanism theme, sewer setting, climax, and monster design.[42] [43] However, many also questioned these claims. According to Kadokawa Herald, Bong had never heard of the Patlabor franchise, which WXIII is an installment of.

Post-release

Unproduced sequel and remake

The Host 2

Shortly after the film's release in 2006, producer Choi Yong-bae hired his friend Kang Full to write The Host 2 .[44] The sequel's development was publicized in June 2007, with a scheduled release date of 2009.[15] [45] [46] Sources presumed that another filmmaker would direct the sequel since Bong openly refused to. Chungeorahm Film proclaimed in January 2008 that Kang had completed the first draft of the screenplay, and that it would now be a prequel to The Host featuring several monsters.[47] The following month, Variety reported that principal photography on the film was set to begin later that year on a budget of around .[48] In June, plans were announced for a localization of The Host 2 for Chinese audiences, featuring a predominantly Chinese cast.[49] Kang later abandoned the project, leading to its cancellation.

The film re-entered development in 2009, as a sequel. A new group of writers was brought onto the project and a company in Singapore agreed to invest into it. In November 2009, Twitch Film revealed that the screenplay was being reworked while a video game adaptation was being planned as a multi-platform first-person shooter simultaneously.[50] [51] According to The Hollywood Reporter in October 2010, a demo reel would debut at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2010 and the film had a projected release date of summer 2012. Their report also stated that it was now set to become a 3D film with a budget. The script was "currently under last-minute revision". By this time, Park Myung-cheon had agreed to direct the film. Test footage starring Kwak Do-won was released circa 2012. This footage and a recent report on the director encouraged the public to believe that filming had begun.

In November 2014, OBS reported that casting for The Host 2 had recently commenced. Principal photography was expected to begin in 2015 under Park's direction as a Chinese-Korean co-production, with an intended 2016 release date.[52] In 2019, South Korean film magazine Cine21 declared that, despite rumors from 2016 indicating that principal photography had occurred, The Host 2 had been canceled without disclosure.[53]

American remake

The success of The Host increased many Hollywood studios' interest in remaking it.[54] [55] Screen International reported in November 2006 that Cineclick Asia had sold the remake rights to Universal Studios and turned down the offers from Plan B Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, and Michael De Luca. Universal executives subsequently assigned Roy Lee and Doug Davidson of Vertigo Entertainment to co-produce the film.[56] In November 2008, it was announced that the remake would be produced by Gore Verbinski, written by Mark Poirier, and directed by first-time filmmaker Fredrik Bond. The film was set to be released in 2011.[57] [58]

Home media

The region-2 UK edition of the film was released on March 5, 2007, while the region-1 US DVD was released on July 24, 2007, in both single-disc and a two-disc collector's edition in DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats.[59]

3D remaster

A 3D remaster of the film premiered at the 16th Busan International Film Festival, as a prelude for The Host 2, which was still in development at the time.[5]

Themes

In the film, the United States Forces Korea is portrayed as uncaring about the effects their activities have on the locals. The chemical agent used by the American military to combat the monster, named "Agent Yellow" in a thinly-veiled reference to Agent Orange, was also used to satirical effect. Director Bong Joon-ho commented on the issue: "It's a stretch to simplify The Host as an anti-American film, but there is certainly a metaphor and political commentary about the U.S."[60] North Korean leader Kim Jong Il reportedly lauded The Host for its Anti-Americanism themes.[61]

The Host features a satirical portrayal of the South Korean government as bureaucratic, inept, and essentially uncaring. Korean youth protesters are featured satirically in the film, in a mixed way, partially heroic and partially self-righteous and oblivious. According to Bong Joon-ho, the Park Nam-il character is a deliberate anachronism, a reference to South Korea's troubled political history, which involved violent protest. "When you look in terms of this character, it's sort of like the feeling of time going backwards. [...] You could say that he is the image of the college protester back ten years ago; it doesn't exist in the present day."[62]

Legacy

Cultural influence

The Host is considered a landmark of South Korean cinema,[63] and remains one of the highest-grossing films ever in the country.[64] It also launched a minor resurgence in the monster genre in South Korea, with the subsequent movies including D-War (2007), Chaw (2009), and Sector 7 (2011).[5] The film was Bong's first film that earned major worldwide attention and helped expand his cult following.[65] He later returned to the monster genre with Okja (2017).[5] The Host later had a major resurgence in popularity upon Bong gaining further international success with Parasite (2019).[66]

In 2014, a sculpture of the film's monster was placed in Hangang Park; this was later removed in 2024.[67]

Later reception

The Host is considered one of the greatest monster and horror films of the 21st century. Some publications have also called it the century's defining monster film.[68] [69] Rotten Tomatoes and Rolling Stone listed it among the best science fiction films ever made; it also appears on the former website's list of the greatest horror movies.[70] [71] The film placed number 81 on Empires list of "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema";[72] was jointly ranked fifth on Rotten Tomatoes and Collider's ranking of Bong's filmography,[73] [74] and appeared on Entertainment Weekly's lists of the 25 best monster movies and Korean horror films.[75] [76]

In 2009, filmmaker Quentin Tarantino listed The Host among his Top 20 Favorite Films released since his directorial debut in 1992.[77] Upon meeting Bong in 2013, Tarantino described how he was "blown away" by the film.[78] He felt that Bong succeeded in "recreating the [monster] genre" through portraying a "weird, f[uck]ed up family". Cahiers du Cinéma later ranked it the 4th best film of the 2000s.[79] In 2014, South Korean audiences voted The Host the 9th greatest Korean film of all time and Bong's second best (after Memories of Murder).[80]

In 2020s retrospectives, some reviewers have noted how elements of The Host later came to reflect the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Guardian and The Quill compared scenes involving a supposed virus outbreak, which featured lockdowns, widespread mask usage, reports that symptoms resemble the flu, anxiety, and misinformation.[81]

References

Works cited

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Credits . October 22, 2024 . . . ko.
  2. Web site: October 5, 2006 . ko:'괴물' 출연 외국인 2명 강제추방 . 2 Foreigners Appearing in Monster Forcibly Deported . https://www.donga.com/news/Society/article/all/20061005/8358155/1 . October 22, 2024 . . ko.
  3. Web site: Kim . Young-rok . 2018 . ko:'방구석1열' 임필성 감독 "'괴물' 출연 당시 박해일 앞에서 오디션 봤다" . https://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2018/07/06/2018070601092.html . October 22, 2024 . . ko.
  4. Web site: June 26, 2006 . ko:오달수, '괴물'에서 괴물 목소리로 등장 . Oh Dal-su appears as the monster's voice in Monster . https://news.kbs.co.kr/news/pc/view/view.do?ncd=1175891 . October 6, 2024 . KBS News . ko.
  5. Web site: 監督との対話から見える『グエムル -漢江の怪物-』の輪郭 . The outline of The Host revealed through conversation with the director . October 29, 2024 . thecinema.jp.
  6. Web site: 7 July 2006 . Press Screening: 괴물 (The Host) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402104345/http://twitchfilm.com/2006/07/press-screening-the-host.html . 2 April 2015 . 2013-09-05 . Twitch Film.
  7. Web site: Wallace . Bruce . 2006-11-01 . Who's the monster? . 2023-10-07 . Los Angeles Times .
  8. Web site: 26 July 2006 . Bong Joon-Ho Talks 괴물 (The Host) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120929100605/http://twitchfilm.com/2006/07/k-film-spotlight-bong-joon-ho-talks-the-host.html . 29 September 2012 . 2007-01-12 . . dmy-all.
  9. Web site: 나확진 . 이효윤 . 2021-11-08 . [A Look Back On Korea′s ′Cheonman Movie′ #14] ′The Host′ ]. 2024-10-20 . .
  10. Web site: Making of The Host koreanscreen.com . 2023-10-07 . Korean Screen .
  11. Web site: Yang . Seung-cheol . 16 July 2006 . That river creature is his baby: Meet the maker of Host . 2013-09-05 . Korea JoongAng Daily.
  12. Web site: Korea Is Showing the World How to Make Political Horror Movies . 2024-10-24 . jacobin.com .
  13. Web site: 27 February 2024 . U.S. Army Keeping Close Eye on Han River Monster .
  14. Web site: Sink & Rise . 2024-10-20 . Le Cinéma Club .
  15. Web site: Yi . Chang-ho . June 25, 2007 . Chungeorahm Announces The Host Sequel . September 5, 2013 . Korean Film Council.
  16. http://www.koreanfilm.org/kfilm06.html#thehost "The Host"
  17. The Host DVD (additional features) . DVD . Optimum Home Entertainment . 2007.
  18. Web site: TIFF Interview: The Host Director Bong Joon-ho . Scott Weinberg . Cinematical . 13 September 2006 . 2007-01-12.
  19. Web site: Oh Strange Horrors! . Barbara Robertson . CGSociety . 27 July 2006 . 2007-01-12 . 2012-04-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120415142009/http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/oh_strange_horrors . dead .
  20. Giuseppe Sedia (October 2007). "An Interview with Bong Joon-ho". Koreamfilm.org. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
  21. Web site: The Host ...With the Most . Adam Nayman . Reverse Shot . 2007-01-13.
  22. Web site: Lee . Da-hye . June 2, 2006 . ko:제59회 칸영화제 중간보고 [2] - 봉준호 감독의 . 59th Cannes Film Festival Interim Report [2] - Director Bong Joon-ho . http://m.cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=38872 . October 5, 2024 . . ko.
  23. Web site: Mark Schilling, Darcy Paquet . 31 July 2006 . Host with the most . 2007-01-12 . Variety.
  24. Web site: 31 July 2006 . The Host Stomps to Multiple Box Office Records . 2007-01-12 . The Chosun Ilbo.
  25. News: Kim Tae-jong . 6 August 2006 . Host Breaks 6-Million-Viewer Mark . 2006-08-07 . The Korea Times via Hancinema.
  26. Web site: October 21, 2021 . The Host is Academy Award winner Bong Joon-ho's early period monster mash . October 23, 2024 . Special Broadcasting Service.
  27. Web site: September 7, 2024 . ko:일본 간 호평에 웃고 흥행엔 '…' . http://m.cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=41342 . October 5, 2024 . . ko.
  28. http://www.koreasociety.org/content/view/287/86/ "The 27th Blue Dragon Awards"
  29. Web site: Park Soo-mee. 3D Release Eyed For Host Sequel. The Hollywood Reporter. October 23, 2010. September 5, 2013.
  30. 0468492 . The Host . October 10, 2024 .
  31. Gwoemul . Gwoemul . October 10, 2024.
  32. Web site: Best Movies for 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150921012724/http://www.metacritic.com/browse/movies/score/metascore/year/filtered?sort=desc&year_selected=2007 . September 21, 2015 . June 21, 2018 . . CBS Interactive.
  33. News: Manohla Dargis . It Came From the River, Hungry for Humans (Burp) . . 9 March 2007 . 2007-08-29.
  34. Web site: Martin . Adrian . Adrian Martin . 2007 . The Host . October 5, 2024 . Film Critic: Adrian Martin.
  35. Web site: Attack of the Giant Amphibian! movie review (2007) Roger Ebert . 2024-10-06 . .
  36. Web site: December 2007 . Critics Poll . dead . http://web.archive.org/web/20071223030705/http://www.indiewire.com/critics2007/#best_film . December 23, 2007 . October 6, 2024 . IndieWire.
  37. Web site: ko:수상정보 . Award Information . https://www.kmdb.or.kr/db/kor/detail/movie/K/07273//award . October 12, 2024 . Korean Movie Database.
  38. Web site: Shackleton . Liz . March 21, 2007 . The Host wins the most at inaugural Asian Film Awards . October 12, 2024 . .
  39. Web site: Paeksang Arts Awards . October 12, 2024 . Cinemasie.
  40. Web site: February 21, 2007 . Superman Returns Leads the 33rd Annual Saturn Awards with 10 Nominations . October 13, 2024 . .
  41. Web site: 2008 . "De l'autre côté", prix UCC . October 13, 2024 . . fr.
  42. Web site: September 11, 2006 . 大ヒット韓国映画「グエムル」日本アニメのパクリ!? . October 6, 2024 . . . ja.
  43. Web site: September 6, 2006 . 【記者手帳】『グエムル』盗作騒ぎを無視してはならないワケ . October 6, 2024 . The Chosun Ilbo.
  44. Web site: 2009-12-03 . ko:[시나리오의 탄생] 청계천에,감히 괴물 이라니… 작가 강풀 '괴물2' 하차 . https://www.kmib.co.kr/article/view.asp?arcid=0002070291 . October 13, 2024 . . ko.
  45. Web site: June 17, 2007 . ko:"내년에 '괴물2' 만든다" . https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/culture/movie/216475.html . 2024-10-05 . . ko.
  46. Web site: Sequel Planned for The Host . October 14, 2024 . SciFi Japan.
  47. Web site: Nigel D'Sa . January 23, 2008 . The Host 2 'Prequel' to Feature Multiple Monsters . September 5, 2013 . Korean Film Council.
  48. Darcy Paquet (28 February 2008). "Korean film industry hot for sequels". Variety. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
  49. Web site: The Host 2— Chinese Version . October 14, 2024 . SciFi Japan.
  50. Web site: Matt Serafini . 3 November 2009 . The Host 2 Becomes a Video Game . 2013-09-05 . Dread Central.
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