Changing Zoom Calls Forever!!!
Host (2020) tells the story of six friends who hire a medium to hold a seance via Zoom during lockdown, but they get far more than they bargained for as things quickly go wrong.
Written By Rob Savage, Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepard and Directed By Rob Savage, I honestly can say this was one of the scariest horrors movies thus far in 2020 almost matching the scariness of Leigh Whannell‘s The Invisible Man (2020).
The Film
Releasing exclusively on Shudder, Host (2020) is one of those horror movies that might just redefine not just the sub-genre of webcam horror movies but horror movies in general. I think it could possibly be the first quarantine era made horror film ever, which is game changing in its ways. It’s safe to say this movie is terrifyingly decent and packs quite the punch when it comes to suspense and scariness.
Taking place through the computer screen on a Zoom call, which has sky-rocketed this year due to a worldwide pandemic, the film couldn't be relevant. I’ve always avoided horrors like this as for some reason they really scare the crap out of me and to this day I’ve never watched the likes of Unfriended (2014), but hearing the hype surrounding Host (2020) I couldn’t help myself but to check it out and I really wasn’t disappointed. In fact it made me hide my face behind my hands for the majority of it as it does suspense super well, like scarily well. The actual scares themselves were enjoyable and I managed to pick up the courage to watch them as they didn’t scare me as much.
Even little details that the characters do like changing the background on there call and using filters all added to its realism. Characters turning up the volume on there chat which then makes your system go even louder to create an even louder and bigger scare when they hit really was something creative and props to however came up with that idea, the developers must have had many Zoom calls themselves to truly capitalise on Zoom’s many features and make them as scary as possible. Something that really impressed me was how they did the credits at the end of the movie by using the Participants tag and listing everyone who worked on the movie as if they were on the characters contact list. Again even the little details like the Sound Designers name has a moving microphone emoji.
There are a few gripes I have with the movie however, such as at the very beginning when we see our character Hayley is walking around her apartment she keeps places her laptop down which I suppose could happen but then for some reason she takes it with her and wake slowly towards her cupboard whilst holding her laptop. I get this is for a cheap and easy jump scare early on but I just don’t buy that anyone would hold there laptop and walk slowly towards a cupboard. This again happens a few more times but they are somewhat justified as all the friends are terrified and are keeping each other company on call. The film also takes a small percentages to find its groove but once it does it paces itself really well and for its 57 min runtime I can totally understand why it takes a while to kick in and again I can justify that.
The Cast
The cast is comprised of our six friends, starting with Haley who is played by Haley Bishop (Angel Has Fallen, Dawn Of The Deaf), Playing Jemma is Jemma Moore (Wonder Woman, The Double), Playing Emma is Emma Louise Webb, this being her first on screen acting debut, playing Radina is Radina Drandova (Dawn Of The Deaf) and finally playing our only leading male character Teddy is Edward Linard, this also being his first on screen acting debut. Playing our other character Seylan, the meduim who actually summons the demon and leaves our characters for dead after getting disconnected from the call is Seylan Baxter (Macbeth, The Last Photograph).
For me not a single person was bad and they all carry the movie along and make us want to feel for there characters and shout at our screens just a little bit to warm them of the dangers they are getting themselves into.
To Conclude
Host (2020) is a short and sweet with its terrifying outlook at what could happen during a Zoom call with a bunch of friends that accidentally summon a demon with the help from a medium and paves the way for how horror films could be made post coronavirus and is the perfect example of how to do achieve this properly.
Host (2020) is available to stream now on Shudder worldwide.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5