Overview
Six friends hire a medium to hold a séance via Zoom during lockdown — 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 realise they might not survive the night.
A short horror film made during the lockdown, Host plays all the tropes and schticks of films such as Paranormal Activity, but gives it a freshness and uniqueness to make it strikingly effective and deliciously chilling.
During the covid lockdown a group of friends set up a zoom chat séance, hiring a medium to lead them. Told to take it seriously, the group begin but see an interruption by one of the group who then leaves the ‘circle’, followed by another feeling a presence who she believes is someone called jack…..but nothing is as it seems. When the medium is suddenly and mysteriously cut off, that’s when things start to ramp up, and something has joined them.
At 57 minutes long, it is safe to say it doesn’t outstay the welcome – with the neat touch of the limited Zoom call time expiring being the framing device for the cut-off at the end. The starting moments, with casual chat about lockdown life, not being able to cough these days, strikes a familiar chord and grounds the film – we’ve all had similar zoom chats, and relate. The use of the zoom technology is the key thing here – making this one of the top tier ‘found footage’ horrors – proving that there are still ways to make the style relevant and fresh.
Filming was done remotely, with the actors having to set up all their own lighting and stunts with Rob Savage (director) talking them through it, and the end effect is staggeringly perfect as a result. A uniquely filmed, topically relevant, and chilling horror for our ages