The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted our entire way of life, and for filmmakers it presented new and seemingly insurmountable challenges. How can you possibly make a film without anyone being able to be in the same room with each other? Thanks to an online prank that went viral by film director Rob Savage, horror streaming platform Shudder contacted him and offered him the opportunity to turn that prank into a feature film. Excited by the prospect of his big break into feature filmmaking, and having seen the success of the Unfriended films, Savage utilised the wonders of the internet and video conferencing software to create what is one of the most terrifying horror films I have seen in years.
Whilst under lockdown regulations in the UK, a group of friends consisting of Haley (Haley Bishop), Jemma (Jemma Moore), Emma (Emma Louise Webb), Caroline (Caroline Ward), Radina (Radina Drandova), and Teddy (Edward Linard) hire a medium, Seylan (Seylan Baxter), to conduct a séance over Zoom. But when the séance is interrupted a malevolent spirit begins to terrorise the group with deadly consequences.
I’m going to come straight out and say that if Host had received a full theatrical release with all the marketing and expectations that come with it, then it would have crashed and burned. This film is not of a high enough quality where it would have survived a traditional release. However, what Savage and the entire crew of Host have managed to do on a budget of just $35k, without ever coming into contact with each other in real life, is simply incredible.
The story is by far the weakest aspect of Host. For a film that is only just touching an hour in length, it spends almost twenty minutes introducing characters and establishing what’s happening. This is a third of the film where nothing of any particular interest happens, and that’s really not good in a film this short. I guess that’s part of the problem when a two-minute prank is inflated into a fifty-five-minute film, but I did start to have my attention wander during this first act.
But once the séance goes wrong and the characters start experience strange phenomena, Host rarely lets up and delivers some of the most effective jump scares I’ve ever seen. They aren’t new scares, they extremely telegraphed, but yet somehow, I found myself jumping out of my seat on two separate occasions, literally hiding behind my hands, and even minimising my viewing window when I knew something was going to happen simply because I was too scared to look.
Whilst under lockdown regulations in the UK, a group of friends consisting of Haley (Haley Bishop), Jemma (Jemma Moore), Emma (Emma Louise Webb), Caroline (Caroline Ward), Radina (Radina Drandova), and Teddy (Edward Linard) hire a medium, Seylan (Seylan Baxter), to conduct a séance over Zoom. But when the séance is interrupted a malevolent spirit begins to terrorise the group with deadly consequences.
I’m going to come straight out and say that if Host had received a full theatrical release with all the marketing and expectations that come with it, then it would have crashed and burned. This film is not of a high enough quality where it would have survived a traditional release. However, what Savage and the entire crew of Host have managed to do on a budget of just $35k, without ever coming into contact with each other in real life, is simply incredible.
The story is by far the weakest aspect of Host. For a film that is only just touching an hour in length, it spends almost twenty minutes introducing characters and establishing what’s happening. This is a third of the film where nothing of any particular interest happens, and that’s really not good in a film this short. I guess that’s part of the problem when a two-minute prank is inflated into a fifty-five-minute film, but I did start to have my attention wander during this first act.
But once the séance goes wrong and the characters start experience strange phenomena, Host rarely lets up and delivers some of the most effective jump scares I’ve ever seen. They aren’t new scares, they extremely telegraphed, but yet somehow, I found myself jumping out of my seat on two separate occasions, literally hiding behind my hands, and even minimising my viewing window when I knew something was going to happen simply because I was too scared to look.
A lot of what makes Host so terrifying is the incredible setup of it. Watching this film on a computer did wonders for the immersion of it. Much like the Unfriended films, Host takes place entirely on a computer screen, and in this case, in a Zoom call. This is a screen that I, along with so many others, are so used to looking at, and especially when watching it on a computer it makes the immersion even greater. As I previously mentioned, I found myself making the browser window smaller when I knew stuff was going to get scary, and this added a layer of interactivity between me and the film that I have never had before. Whilst some may choose to watch this on a TV, or not interact with their mouse and keyboard in any fashion whilst watching it, I found it second nature to want to do things on my other monitor whilst watching it because the presence of Zoom felt so normal to me. It really dragged me in to the story, and anytime something happened I genuinely felt like I was a part of that Zoom call.
The performances are really great as well, and it goes a long way in selling the reality this film wants to capture. But what I found most impressive about the performances was that all the crazy stuff that starts to happen with objects getting thrown around and lights flickering was all controlled by the actors in their individual residences. This must have taken so long to plan and get right, and to see it play out with the knowledge that each actor was responsible for their own lighting, sound, stunts, and even some improvising makes the whole thing so much more natural and engrossing. Some elements were intentionally not communicated to all actors, so many of the reactions you see are genuine, and that genuine fear seen in the faces of the actors is completely unparalleled at dragging you in and making you just as terrified as they were.
Host is essential viewing for any horror fan, or anyone seeking to get into filmmaking. What this film achieves with the physical and financial restraints it was under is simply incredible. Normally I find jump scares predictable and underwhelming, but even though I knew exactly what kind of scare was going to happen and when it would, it still managed to shit me up and I have to admit that’s incredibly impressive.
Host is best viewed on a tablet or a computer to properly immerse yourself in the experience, and don’t be afraid to let your hands wander and do other things whilst you watch. If anything, it made the experience so much scarier to me than if I had been watching it on my TV, or in a cinema.
Host goes to show that no matter how well worn a trope is, that all you need is good execution, and the same old scares can still be just as effective as the first time you saw them.
The performances are really great as well, and it goes a long way in selling the reality this film wants to capture. But what I found most impressive about the performances was that all the crazy stuff that starts to happen with objects getting thrown around and lights flickering was all controlled by the actors in their individual residences. This must have taken so long to plan and get right, and to see it play out with the knowledge that each actor was responsible for their own lighting, sound, stunts, and even some improvising makes the whole thing so much more natural and engrossing. Some elements were intentionally not communicated to all actors, so many of the reactions you see are genuine, and that genuine fear seen in the faces of the actors is completely unparalleled at dragging you in and making you just as terrified as they were.
Host is essential viewing for any horror fan, or anyone seeking to get into filmmaking. What this film achieves with the physical and financial restraints it was under is simply incredible. Normally I find jump scares predictable and underwhelming, but even though I knew exactly what kind of scare was going to happen and when it would, it still managed to shit me up and I have to admit that’s incredibly impressive.
Host is best viewed on a tablet or a computer to properly immerse yourself in the experience, and don’t be afraid to let your hands wander and do other things whilst you watch. If anything, it made the experience so much scarier to me than if I had been watching it on my TV, or in a cinema.
Host goes to show that no matter how well worn a trope is, that all you need is good execution, and the same old scares can still be just as effective as the first time you saw them.