One of the best movies I’ve seen so far this year is also, by far, the shortest. Not only that—it also utilizes my absolute least-favorite form of visual storytelling: found footage.
Although the footage in Host isn’t “found” (the entire film is a one-hour Zoom meeting), the premise immediately felt familiar. A group of naive college students in their mid-20s get together on a Zoom video call to perform a séance, mostly due to mutual curiosity. As one may guess, things don’t go well, and they inadvertently summon something malevolent.
Now, if you’re immediately reminded of the movie Unfriended (2014), you’re not alone. However, I can assure you Host successfully sets itself aside from its predecessor.
For one thing, Host makes good use of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The main characters are all stuck at home alone, bored out of their minds, and going a little stir-crazy. The movie doesn’t belabor the obvious horrors of the pandemic, nor does it become political at any point. Like a friendly patron at the bars and restaurants we all miss, the movie tells us a quick and fun story without insulting our intelligence.
Additionally, the scares are more creative than in similar movies. I’m not dissing Unfriended; truth be told, I was a pretty big fan of that movie. Host, however, utilizes every aspect of Zoom as a framing device, and it does so in a way that’s actually scary. Moments I enjoyed in particular involved Zoom’s fun add-ons, such as digital backgrounds and face filters.
Host doesn’t waste any of the given material, nor does it feel like a low-budget movie when things become paranormal. In fact, I’d argue Host is more visually pleasing than many of the Blumhouse movies I’ve seen lately, and Blumhouse is a studio that’s made “found footage” its home for almost a decade.
I’ll keep this short and sweet: I’m a hard guy to please when it comes to horror movies, particularly those of the “found footage” ilk…and Host had me hook, line, and sinker. While I’ll happily talk on and on about the merits of movies like Midsommar, which are (arguably) very cerebral and “deep,” I can tell you Host casts the same type of bright and sinister light. Hell, even the end credits were delivered in a creative and charming way.
Bravo to Shudder for continuing to roll out the hits, and I’m definitely putting Rob Savage on my list of directors to keep an eye on. If Savage continues this upward trajectory of creativity, we’ll be hearing a lot more about him in the horror world.
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