Host: Another cliche found footage horror...or?

First of all, I would like to remember and get into that time period of which this movie was made. The old good lockup/corona time period where we were all stuck with our siblings at home and didn’t know when it was going to end. Well, this movie takes place in that era, and it captures the spirit of it perfectly with the zoom calls, not being able to see or touch your nose in person, etc. Fun fact: the time limit to the Zoom call is 40 minutes, and that is exactly how long this movie is, plus the intro of about 15 more minutes where the friend group isn’t online just yet. Except for the very short run time and the ¨tb˝ to stay at home policies, this movie is great at creating tension that builds uo for the whole movie. There are some good jump scares and truly creepy moments. One in particular made my girlfriend scream out loud, and I couldn’t stop laughing at that for about the rest of the movie, which instantly made the watching experience whole lotta better. As for the negatives… This movie is reminding me of a Kickstarter movie project, where the budget is a six-pack of Coke and a pack of peanuts. Don’t get me wrong, the entire movie takes place in the same environment, behind the camera, via Zoom call, and that’s cool, but if you pause the right frame to see the demon, you will laugh at it because that’s some Best Buy Halloween mask. The acting is OK for me, and the characters are your basic friend group with all the cliche characters. The only other bad thing I can think of is that it is very slow for a movie that lasts for only 45 minutes, especially the beginning where you just listen to their gibberish and it has nothing to do with the movie plot. Despite all that, I found ˝Host˝ a good time, and I would definitely watch it again some time later, probably with my girlfriend again or with friends. This is definitely better than your average found footage horror movie.

6.5/10

PROS

  • Creepy atmosphere, and good scares
  • Great fun value
  • Creative for the time that it was made

CONS

  • Plot is kinda shallow
  • Feels like a kickstarter project

SPOILER REVIEW

To continue all of the above things that I said, there aren’t a lot of things to say about this movie because of the low action and happenings. There are a couple of scenes that shook me, and those are: 1. the attic scene—I just knew it that something would appear up there, but who didn’t feel unsafe watching the slow climbing and looking around the creepy old attic? 2. The stairs jumpscare—fuck me—that made my heart jump a beat. My girlfriend screamed when I told you. Except that, you gotta agree that all the other stuff is just an atmosphere buildup. The only other topic I want to mention is that fat girl character. She is the definition of ¨Fuck around and found out, and she totally deserves it. I just wish that she wasn’t one of the last survivors, and it really made me angry that literally nothing happens to her till the last moments of the movie. Where is the justice? She fuckes up the whole thing with her attitude, and she just watches all of her friends get killed, and she’s just there like, Yeah, I can’t do anything; we are in a lockdown. Maybe help? The ending is kind of predicable and the movie… Give your Halloween mask back to little Timmy; he is wondering where he left it (Relaxe snowflakes, its a joke).