Host is a 57 minute long horror movie that was written and filmed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Many writers were looking for a way to make a story based on the world events without being callous or insensitive, and the creators of Host were successful in acknowledging the virus without being in poor taste. A comedy movie about the pandemic would have been a terrible idea, but the horror genre suits the situation well enough. This is a scary movie that friends or family could (and still can) watch together or apart if they wanted to be too scared to turn off their lights for the next several weeks. Host was by far one of the scariest movies released in 2020.

This movie is scary because it has a realistic premise about a group of friends who are stuck inside during the social distancing lockdown and want to stay in touch by having weekly Zoom call meetings. Each week, a different friend will host the meeting and arrange an activity for the group to participate in together. This week it's Haley's turn, and she has decided the group will do a seance lead by a medium whom she has hired. This is the first time the others have ever done something like this, but Haley has already done this (in person) a few times. There are a few minutes of the movie that are not shot on the Zoom call where we see Haley getting prepared, and it looks like some spirits may already be present from her past seances that have lingered around.

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The medium named Seylan warns the friends that because they are not together, their energy will be weaker, which can make them vulnerable to possessions. She says it is very important they do not disrespect the spirits. She makes the friends feel somewhat comforted by giving them instructions on how to break their connection to the spirit world. Everything seems fine until one of the friends named Jemma decides to fabricate a story about a boy named Jack she supposedly knew who committed suicide by hanging after she pretends to feel pressure on her neck.  None of the friends are taking this seriously except for Haley, so when Jemma comes clean about her lie, they all laugh.

They are at even more ease because right before Jemma came clean, Seylan made a seemingly unprofessional move of ordering delivery during their schedule time. So they feel like this is a joke. Seylan's camera cuts out, and the friends begin experiencing some supernatural events that get progressively more violent. They even see a dark, elongated figure who appears to be hanging by a noose. When they finally get back in touch with Seylan and tell her about Jemma's lie, Seylan informs the friends of the mistake they've made. She says that through the fabricated story that does not belong to any spirit, Jemma has created a mask that any spirit nearby can use to come through to their world.

This may not be an original way of making a movie, as there are plenty of other web camera movies out there like the Unfriended movies and Searching. But Host is highly original in its story as well as its jump scares. This is a fun jump scare movie, but it does have some elevated horror aspects within the story. The way the demon enters into the world through a mask created by a lie is very original. What's even more interesting is the way the demon actually tries to appear like this fictional Jack character in order to get closer to the group of friends. But the demon stops caring and gets progressively more demonic looking as the movie goes on until it full-on ditches the mask and reveals itself.

There are some very clever jump scares in Host that, unlike other cheesy horror films, don't break any tension but actually manage to heighten the tension. Some of these scares may have been inspired by The Invisible Man, but there is one original scare that actually makes a lot of sense for the story. One of the friends named Emma has been using the Zoom face filters throughout the call, and when she encounters the demon, her phone camera is able to detect a face that Emma cannot actually see and puts a filter over it. When Emma reaches out to the invisible face, whatever is wearing it turns to her. Seylan told the friends they created a mask, and the Zoom mask filter jump scare is both clever and terrifying.

Host is a great short horror film that was made to be watched on a laptop. The Zoom call framing gives an extra layer of immersion when viewed on a device that people may be already be using for their own Zoom-related needs, and this would be the perfect movie to actually watch over a platform like Zoom with friends or family.

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