Host: Movie Review
Well hello, fellow horror enthusiasts! I’m here with a review of the newly released, Shudder exclusive: Host. Since this movie is recent, I will be careful not to include any spoilers.
The Movie
Host - a film written, directed, and filmed during quarantine.
At only 57 minutes, Host is a 2020 British found footage horror film directed by Rob Savage and based on a script written by Savage, Gemma Hurley, and Jed Shepherd. The movie about six friends in lockdown who hold a séance via Zoom. Of course, since this is a horror movie, you already know that they get way more than they bargain for.
During the séance, one of the friends pretends to receive contact from a spirit, later revealing it as a joke. Unfortunately, that means you leave an open invite to anything to visit and of course, the poor girls begin to get harassed by something less than friendly.
Review
I can’t say this movie was super original. It was a pretty standard found footage horror with jump scares, a la Paranormal Activities vibes. I do have to hand it to the director for using Zoom and making it contextual to the present events. The movie incorporates the classic online Zoom meeting frustrations, like dropped calls, bad connections, those silly filters and backgrounds you can use, even the time limit Zoom enforces on certain meeting sizes.
While I wasn’t blown away by Host, it was a fun watch. Also, since it was set during present events, it gave it more of an impact, I feel. It is a Shudder exclusive, so you need a subscription to watch it – though you can get a free seven-day trial if you want to give it a go. I’d say it’s worth the watch as long as you are not expecting something mind-blowing.
Score: 5/10
x P.L. McMillan
p.s. still struggling with the new Wordpress UI. Ugh.