Review #168: Host (2020)


This review was originally written in 2022.

Gabe's 100 Bucket List Horror Films Review #23: Host (2020)

Right out of the gate: this movie is a delight! Short but sweet, Host is the product of a group of people trying to make the best of a bad situation, and although it's not particularly deep or thoughtful, it was exactly what it set out to be.

The plot of Host is a simple one: during the 2020 Covid pandemic, a group of friends decide to host a seance over a Zoom call. They don't take it seriously, they break the rules of contacting the other side, bing bang boom, ghosts or demons or something. And that's it! There's no significant character development, there's no gut-wrenching plot twists, just fifty-seven minutes of set-ups and scares. (Yes many of the scares are of the jump variety, but in my opinion there's enough variation and cleverness involved throughout that it's not a dealbreaker for me.) The movie was made on a shoestring budget, and it shows- but I don't think for a second that spending more money would have improved on this basic idea, because it's kind of the platonic ideal of what this type of movie could be.

But the story behind the movie is what really gripped me the most. To my understanding, this film wasn't simply an opportunity to make money off of the pandemic- kind of the opposite, actually. During the 2020 lockdown many of us were stuck at home, unable to contribute meaningfully to anyone's lives but our own, unable to do what we're passionate about. So a group of people involved in the film industry got in contact with one another, and said, "If none of us could leave our houses, what sort of movie could we make?" So they took stock of what skills they all had, what resources they all had access to, and planned around those. Then they reached out to more friends, asked what skills they had, and what resources they had access to. One of the actresses had a rig she could use to drop herself from a height- so they used it (twice)! One of the actors was a stuntman with experience being set on fire, so they actually set him on fire! In the end, it was a big web of friends, each with very specific skills and resources, all of which was worked into the movie. It's a fun group project of the best kind.

So no, it doesn't look or sound great. No, it doesn't have any recognizable names in it. But it's a cleverly-made film with a ton of heart and a ton of talent shoved into a small package. I will recommend this one to anyone, anyday.

Overall Rating: 9/10 Astral Plane Shots

Most Chilling Moment of the Film: When the Zoom filters come back in a big bad way. You know the scene.

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