Host Review

Certificate: 15

Running time: 57 minutes

Starring: Hayley Bishop, Jemma Moore, Caroline Ward, Emma Louise Webb, Radina Drandova, Alan Emrys

Directed by: Rob Savage

The story: During lockdown, six friends decide to take part in an online séance via Zoom. But events take a turn for the worst when they notice strange things starting to happen...

The verdict: Host originated from a short video posted by Savage that went viral, where Savage investigated strange noises coming from his attic whilst on an online video chat. After the success of the short video, Savage decided to adapt it into a feature.

Host sees a group of six friends all meet up on zoom during quarantine. After not seeing each other in person for awhile, one of the friends has arranged for the group to take part in an online séance. Everything about this format really rings true - not only the use of Zoom, which is something that most of us are now very familiar with, but also the behaviour of the friends. There are some who think that it is all a bit of a joke, some that take it a lot more seriously - overall, the interactions between them all feel very natural and believable.

Another great thing about this format is the way that we see each persons screen in which everyone is in their own unique environment. As mentioned above, the friends treat the séance with differing degrees of seriousness thus when strange things start to happen, there is a degree of uncertainty as to whether what is happening is the result of the supernatural or someone fooling around .

As Host is billed as a horror film, I obviously expected that there might be scares. However, I was in no way prepared for just how truly terrifying Host turned out to be. Not only was it terrifying, but it was incredibly tense, and it is not an exaggeration to say that I spent the majority of the film watching through my fingers. After the film ended, I did feel pretty shaken up.

Host was filmed long distance and in a matter of weeks. Considering its filming limitations, its topical and current nature and the utterly frightening effect of it - I was really impressed with Host. I am not sure that I can brave watching it any time again soon but this is definitely one that horror fans need to check out.

The rating: ★★★★ and a half