Host (2020) (2020)
August 20, 2020 3:45 PM - Subscribe
Shudder's 56-minute new horror movie, "filmed and set entirely on video chat platform Zoom, Host recounts the tale of a seance gone wrong and the immediate fallout as something unintended is invited into the chat. In the wake of its release on Shudder, it raced to 100% on RottenTomatoes and tides of effusive reactions across social media".
I watched it on gustatv (Had to flick off some popup ads first, if you know what I mean...).
Shudder streams it with paid subscription (- “not available in my country”).
posted by growabrain at 10:09 PM on August 20, 2020
Shudder streams it with paid subscription (- “not available in my country”).
posted by growabrain at 10:09 PM on August 20, 2020
I watched it in the UK on Shudder using their free trial. With the caveat that I am way too scared to watch most horror movies (I watched this for research since it is ARG-adjacent) I was tickled by some of the cool Zoom tricks it played, and impressed by the overall production quality given how it was made entirely in lockdown.
Sure, the story was pretty much non-existent, but there's only so much you can expect in These Times.
posted by adrianhon at 1:17 AM on August 21, 2020 [2 favorites]
Sure, the story was pretty much non-existent, but there's only so much you can expect in These Times.
posted by adrianhon at 1:17 AM on August 21, 2020 [2 favorites]
This was a crackerjack little movie.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:43 PM on August 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:43 PM on August 30, 2020 [2 favorites]
When I saw this pop up on Shudder I had no interest in watching, figuring it to be no more than a hasty re-envisioning of earlier “all on a computer screen” movies like Unfriended or The Den.
How wrong I was! This was a great, snappy, scary romp, and the director was smart to keep it under one hour so the scares never got stale. Even when a jump scare was telegraphed 5 minutes in advance, it still made me jump (and in one instance, exclaim aloud). RT score of 100% fully earned!
posted by ejs at 11:36 PM on September 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
How wrong I was! This was a great, snappy, scary romp, and the director was smart to keep it under one hour so the scares never got stale. Even when a jump scare was telegraphed 5 minutes in advance, it still made me jump (and in one instance, exclaim aloud). RT score of 100% fully earned!
posted by ejs at 11:36 PM on September 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
Surprisingly solid, though the running around part at the end was a little too extended even somehow with only 60 minutes.
It's kind of all expected, but it's well executed. Effectively using horror techniques.
I thought it was cute how they scrolled through the credits at the end. I usually look out for how they might differentiate jobs (like, The Incredibles goes nuts with it) but the only thing I noticed was the sound designer had the "no camera" icon.
As we were watching it late last night, a windstorm kicked up that started swinging a low phone line against the house, and then the neighbors started having a murmured discussion right outside the window. So after the movie we had to watch an episode of Rita which is our apres-le-spooky palate cleanser of choice.
posted by fleacircus at 8:07 PM on January 22, 2021
It's kind of all expected, but it's well executed. Effectively using horror techniques.
I thought it was cute how they scrolled through the credits at the end. I usually look out for how they might differentiate jobs (like, The Incredibles goes nuts with it) but the only thing I noticed was the sound designer had the "no camera" icon.
As we were watching it late last night, a windstorm kicked up that started swinging a low phone line against the house, and then the neighbors started having a murmured discussion right outside the window. So after the movie we had to watch an episode of Rita which is our apres-le-spooky palate cleanser of choice.
posted by fleacircus at 8:07 PM on January 22, 2021
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posted by Scattercat at 8:06 PM on August 20, 2020 [1 favorite]