Shudder understood the potential of this mad little film from day one and totally supported us making it in our own way. “When lockdown began, I spent week’s bingeing everything on Shudder, so to find myself premiering a new film on the platform only a few months later is incredible. “I’m a certified Shudder obsessive,” said Savage. According to Deadline, all the actors in the movie are also their very own one-man crew with them having to operate their own cameras and doing their own stunts, practical effects and lighting, while Savage guided them remotely. The film is directed by Rob Savage ( Dawn of the Deaf) and was shot remotely in the actors’ homes, with the cast and crew all following social distancing guidelines. Only things quickly go south when an evil spirit starts invading their homes. Host tells the tale of six friends who decide to hold a seance over the teleconferencing service Zoom while on quarantine. Now, if you never found holding Zoom calls to be scary, you just might reconsider after watching Shudder’s newest Zoom-based horror movie, Host. And while it isn’t an entirely original concept by any stretch of the imagination, it plays to its strengths to serve up a ghoulish ghost story.The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many of us having to work from home, with usual meetings in the boardroom now relegated to video calls over Google Meet or Zoom. OK, so it has shades of Paranormal Activity, and Ghostwatch in its palette, but these are mild touches rather than sweeping brushstrokes. I can’t stress this enough Host is a great little horror. In fact, it uses the remote angle to its advantage, to highlight that while all the characters are able to connect through the internet, for the most part they are at home alone, in the middle of a pandemic, and vulnerable. This means making use of Zoom features to heighten tension, and playing up the frustrations of using this sometimes-problematic tech to put everyone on edge.Īnd speaking of tension, Host also manages to create a very tense atmosphere even though all of the characters are remote. Sure, there are moments that feel a little reminiscent of standard horror films – including a scene in which one character goes to ‘explore the mysterious noise’ in her house – but for the most part, Host aims for something new.

Zoom horror movie shudder