Rent Host (2020)

Brilliantly original, timely, genuinely creepy scary believable horror flick less than an hour long - Host review by PV

Ok so the HAUNTING and seance trope has been done MANY times, brilliantly in classics like NIGHT OF THE DEMON (it's in the trees, it's coming, Kate...) or even THE OMEN, but it's always nice to watch a really effective and efficient new attempt.

So timely, bang on the zietgiest, filmed in 2020, entirely consisting of zoom screens - in a very girly Friday night boozy lockdown zoom meeting online. Utterly believable.

Yes it's all hokum, all stuff and nonsense, BUT what horror film is not?

Slick and efficient at less than an hour running times - please take note self-indulgent Hollywood directors of 3 hours borefest yawnsome movies (the average movie length is 2 hoyurs 20 minutes there days; always used to be 90 minutes, which is THE OMEN length).

Do not think about it TOO much, just watch and feel - it is creepy and full of jumps and scares. VERy wisely the director chose not to show too much of the - you know whats.

All about facial expression and tension, expectation.

I loved it actually, Best horror film I have watched for ages. 4.5 stars rounded up.

Zoom-tastic horror. - Host review by NP

A found footage-style story elevated to pandemic life, and its need for Zoom conversations and face masks. However, this isn’t about Covid, although it was filmed under the restraints of social distancing etc. This is about six initially irritating friends and how they foolishly and unwittingly release an unfriendly spirit during an online séance. Actually, that’s unfair – Jemma (played by Jemma Moore – yes, the Blair Witch notion of naming characters after the actors is alive and well) is really the culprit, and you could shake her for her stupidity. Token male Teddy (Edward Linyard) is equally moronic in his reaction to what is going on – but without such characters, no drama would be allowed to unfold.

At just shy of 60 minutes, this film never threatens to outstay its welcome. It just has time to introduce us briskly to the characters – all played beautifully, and very naturally. It’s easy to believe they are friends getting together for a good time – and then crack on with scaring us.

With six screens for each character, there’s plenty of opportunity to catch subtle little moments that indicate all is not well. Definitely this is one for repeated viewings. Things don’t remain subtle for long though, and as things get more intense, there are plenty of reasons for the audience to jump out of their seats. Truly unnerving. After a slightly testing beginning as we get to see deeper than the characters’ often annoying personalities, this is a cracker of a film. My score is 8 out of 10.