Monday, August 3, 2020

Host (2020)



Streaming Services: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: Host (2020)
Genre: Horror
Length: 56 minutes
Rating: NR
Production/Distribution: Shadowhouse Films, Shudder
Director: Rob Savage
Writer: Gemma Hurley, Rob Savage, Jed Shepherd
Actors: Haley Bishop, Jemma Moore, Emma Louise Webb, Radina Drandova, Caroline Ward, Alan Emrys, Patrick Ward, Edward Linard, Jinny Lofthouse, Seylan Baxter, Jack Brydon, James Swanton

Blurb from IMDb: Six friends hire a medium to hold a scene via Zoom during lock down - but they get far more than they bargained for as things quickly go wrong. When an evil spirit starts invading their homes, they begin to realize they might not survive the night.


Selina’s Point of View:
This, right here, is how you do a web cam film.

We all know that found footage films, especially in the web cam sub-genre, can be hit or miss. Shaky cam can make people feel dizzy and it can be really hard to make it not feel scripted.

Shudder made a strategically great move in working quickly to put out this flick. It made the entire thing feel more relatable because it fed off of what people are currently experiencing. The majority of us have kept in touch with friends through online apps. Not only that, but we’ve been bored enough to try stuff we normally wouldn’t. Sure, that mostly includes learning a new language or going through the recipes in our cookbooks… but I can absolutely buy that there are people out there trying digital séances.


My favorite aspect, though, is that the film used a free Zoom meeting as the setting and stuck to real-time. I love that concept. That meant the editing had to be extremely tight. There was no lengthy exposition, no wasting time, and no unnecessary footage to muddle through. Host got straight to the point.

It worked. The suspense was palpable. I felt it in my chest the entire time. I’d be paying attention to one square as the person spoke, and then something would happen somewhere else that completely caught me off guard.


Not going to lie, I jumped several times. It absolutely got me. Some of the scares should have been considered basic, but because the film is so short, you skip over a lot of the bullshit. You just get to those scares much quicker than expected. It hits so much differently, in the best way.

Host is relatable and effective. There’s really nothing more I need from a horror film. If you don’t have Shudder yet, this could be a reason to get it.


Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 100%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 83%
Metascore – 72/100
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 6.8/10
CinemaScore – None

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating5/5

Trust the Dice Parental Advisory Rating: R

Movie Trailer: