After the disappointment of the Skype horror movie Unfriended back in 2014, I wasn’t sure how Host would be any different.
I mean Unfriended was okay but not the scariest for me and the movie did receive mixed reviews but so far, the movie Host received mostly positive feedback. That’s actually promising. So what is the movie about? Host is a 2020 British found footage horror movie directed by Rob Savage about six friends that hired a medium to hold a séance over Zoom during lockdown but got far more than they bargained for as things quickly went wrong. When an evil spirit starts invading their homes, they realised they might not survive the night.
Spooky. The premise of the movie is similar to Unfriended as the film centres around friends through a group video call session online. But what makes Host different from Unfriended? What is it about the movie that made it better than any other found footage films?
For starters, the movie was actually filmed during the lockdown. While everyone else was busy gaming, baking and making Dalgona coffee, these people made a horror movie. There were no extras, no staff members, no make up artists, costume designers, set designers or cinematographers on set as everything was filmed in the comfort of the cast’s home.
Since everything was filmed in their own home, the cast had to perform their own stunts, prepared their own live special effects, and create the chilling setting for the movie. Now that’s pretty impressive. Director Rob Savage had to direct the actors remotely while they had to set up their own cameras, lighting, and stunts.
Practical effects were also handled by the actors and a virtual workshop was held on how to set up effects such as “moving doors, making things fly off shelves”. Savage has stated that the movie took 3 months to complete, from conception to its delivery to Shudder. That’s very fast.
Even if you haven’t watch Unfriended, from the trailer, you can tell everything was a little too exaggerated in terms of the acting or at least in my opinion but from the Host trailer, it looked pretty well acted or at least more realistic I would say?
My point is that it looked interesting enough for me to go and check it out and based on friends’ recommendations as well as positive comments from both fans and critics, I guess my weekend plan is sorted.
Have you seen the movie? Do you guys want my review on the movie after I watch it? I’d be happy to oblige. In the meantime, check out the trailer here:
