Written and directed by Rob Savage, Host dropped
on Shudder a few weeks ago, and gained notoriety
for being entirely produced during the COVID-19
lockdown. The movie takes place over a Zoom
conference call, and tells the story of a
group of friends who are doing a “remote”
seance when spookies start happening.
And, to my delight, they are very good spookies.
Savage had to direct the entire movie remotely,
and each member of the cast had to do their
own cameras, lighting and stunts for the movie.
All practical effects were also done by the
actors after seminars over Zoom to teach them how
to make things move and fly around their homes.
The fact that the cast managed to pull it
all off while also delivering very convincing
and authentic performances that felt extremely
real and human is a testament to their skill
and dedication.
This is nothing you haven't seen before, but
everything is very well-executed, the gimmick
is fun, it delivers enough scares...and the
runtime is only 57 minutes so it's over way
before it has a chance to overstay its welcome.
It's currently at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes,
and to have completed a movie of this calibre
in 12 weeks during a global pandemic makes
me feel like movies aren't going to die after all.
Even if Christopher Nolan did try to
kill them this week.
