📽 Trailer Breakdown:
Host (2020) possesses fully modernized horror elements that stems from the digital world, wherein a Zoom call is entirely set on its own. During the sake of a singular call, a group of friends decide to have a virtual séance while in lockdown due to COVID-19. As it turns out, a harmless activity all spirals down into a nightmare-like session where an evil spirit intrudes the video call.
Instead of building tangible fear in people through paranormal activities like many other horror movies do, Host like some other modernized horror movies, builds fear in people by freezing screens, having ghostly glitches, and shocking appearances of dark spirits standing behind the actors. The webcam effortlessly creates a crystal clear, terrifying, even Cohens imagination. With its overused realistic portrayals, dimming lights, and frightening horror pops, the movie hints at a truly overstimulating and intensely chilling horror feature.
🎭 Cast & Characters:
Haley Bishop as Haley – The most committed member of the session, which makes her the ‘heldare’ of the group, and the organizer of the séance.
Jemma Moore as Jemma – The skeptic friend who tries to dabble with spirits but ends up carelessly letting them in while attempting to pull a prank.
Emma Louise Webb as Emma – One of the an utmost frightened and weak characters of the group who becomes more fearful over time.
Radina Drandova as Radina – A participant who has issues in her personal life.
Caroline Ward as Caroline – Another friend who gets the restful night but too late realises they have made an error.
Edward Linard as Teddy – Someone who arrives last to the séance without knowing that horror had already begun.
Seylan Baxter as Seylan – The medium who is the first to warn the séance of supernatural dangers ahead of time.
📖 Plot Synopsis:
A group of six friends tried to keep in contact in the COVID-19 lockdown by attempting to virtually have a séance over Zoom. They hired a professional medium, Seylan, to guide them during this ritual. However, the gathering takes a turn for the awful when one participant decides to make a fake spirit for their friend, instantly shutting the door on something unfriendly.
As the session continues, members of the group start to experience strange disturbances in the comforts of their own homes. Objects start moving by themselves, ghostly shadows dancing in front of monitors, and distorted whispers spewing from speakers. Bit by bit, they start to notice that a malicious entity has joined their call, and even worse, it’s out of the séance.
The demonic entity feasts on their deepest terrors, materializing in different forms for each of them. Once panic strikes, the friends attempt to end the call without success, as it is far too late: the supernatural force has already integrated itself into their everyday life. One by one, they are taken in horrifyingly brutal ways. Their streams glitch to dark when they are pulled into the void.
Perfectly aggravated pacing combined with highly anxiety-inducing unpredictability in conjunction with real time movement makes Host feel extremly vivid.
🔥 Why one should watch:
At just 47 minutes long, Host is a merciless horror flick that defies the odds. From the get go, the film captures one’s undivided attention and keeps them on the edge of their seat straight until the last second. It is a contemporary horror classic that receives completely justifiable fear, proof that budget and runtime have no bearing on the emotion they seek to instill in the audience- only execution matters.
Its method of filming during lockdown extremely increases the effectiveness of the movie. It amplifies the already terrible isolation accompanied by extreme dread from the reality of 2020. Combined with Zoom as the primary setting, it becomes ever so much more terrifying as this entire situation feels like something that could happen to us, in our very own households.
Host is a unique, terrifying, and well-crafted horror movie. It’s proven that some concepts are simple yet scary. With practical effects, outstanding performances, and a nerve-wracking sense of dread, Host is a film that portrays, within its pages, dread and disbelief. If you appreciate modern found-footage horror, consider this a necessity.