Host (2020)

Directed by: Rob Savage | 65 minutes | horror | 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

Haley and her friends are also looking for a bit of excitement and entertainment in corona time. Their idea: hold a seance via Zoom. A nice find in itself: calling up ghosts is indeed a group activity that is ‘still possible’ even in times of lockdown and contact restrictions. The medium Seylan leads the session. Apart from Haley and the nervous Caroline, no one really takes the initiative seriously. However, Jemma makes a joke with serious consequences: because of her antics, the group of friends is soon stuck with a demonic entity that has a brother dead from social distancing and seems to have little good in it. When the connection of the medium that has to steer the session in the right direction also disappears, the seance slowly but surely degenerates into a horrific nightmare…

It may not sound too appealing to the true-minded film snob: a low-budget production that takes place entirely on Zoom, a channel that home workers may be forced to use more often than they would like. Still, in the case of ‘Host’ it pays to step over that threshold of skepticism. Director Rob Savage uses the video calling medium as an effective vehicle to sow fear and give the phenomenon of supernatural horror a credible face.

‘Host’ is particularly useful in responding to the fear and loneliness that for many people are associated with (physical) social isolation. The walls come at you, while in times of need you are mainly on your own. At a certain point, the participants in the seance come to realize that their own lives and that of their friends are in danger, but can do very little to avert the disaster. The shock and shivering moments are nicely dosed and often quite successful, although ‘Host’ does rely heavily on predecessors like ‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘The Blair Witch Project’ in that respect. Clichés like suddenly opening kitchen cupboards can now be dreamed of by the dyed-in-the-wool horror fanatic.

The sometimes mediocre image quality and substandard lighting are a plus in ‘Host’ separately enough. As a viewer, you often do not know exactly what you are seeing in the semi-darkness, so that the feeling of tension and mystery remains present until the end. ‘Host’ only lasts an hour, long enough for a film consisting only of Zoom images. The logical consequence is that the characters are hardly explored in depth, but that the tension remains taut from beginning to end.

‘Host’ is a fresh horror release that cleverly capitalizes on one of the most bizarre periods in recent human history. In addition, the film is also a major technical achievement. Savage directed all the actors remotely in their own homes, while each actor was responsible for the sound, lighting and effects in his or her abode. A wonderful piece of teamwork, so it was made in a very difficult time for filmmakers.