It’s that time of year again and if you’re looking to start Halloween early this weekend, then you can’t go too wrong with Host which was recently made available to watch for free in the UK. The brilliant 2020 horror was originally a Shudder exclusive in the UK, but now deserves to hit an even wider audience.
Directed by Rob Savage, who also co-wrote with Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepherd, Host was filmed entirely on Zoom during the 2020 lockdown in the UK as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It follows a group of friends who, instead of doing quizzes like the rest of us, decide to hold a séance over Zoom which does not end well.
While also acting as an excellent time capsule of that period in our lives (including social distancing jokes), Host is also most importantly a truly terrifying horror movie. It’s an innovative take on the found footage genre, taking place entirely on the Zoom meeting, that delivers genuine shocks and chilling imagery in the space of only 56 minutes.
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As part of their AMC Shudder Selects, Host was added to Channel 5’s streaming service recently, which is free to watch with adverts and is available to watch until 9 November on the streamer. It’s also still available to watch on Shudder, which you can add as a Prime Video channel and get a seven-day free trial.
For added immersion, you can even watch Host on your computer screen, but you might never want to turn your computer on again.
Shudder//Amazon Prime
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What helps Host manage to be so scary is that you get an instant connection to the cast, given that they are friends in real life so share an immediate chemistry. It feels exactly like the Zoom calls we all had with our friends in 2020, because it is exactly how the cast were having Zoom calls before the movie.
Thankfully, our Zoom calls included fewer evil spirits, but even before the cast filmed Host, they held their own séance. “There were a lot of things that were in the film that were based on the séance. So, for example, the medium actually cut out in the séance so we’ve not actually closed it properly, so I could still be in it,” star Jemma Moore told Digital Spy.
“And then also, there was a loud bang in my house and something fell off my bookshelf. I stood up immediately and started crying. I was so scared. I was terrified of it. My character Jemma, which is a weird thing to say in itself, I think may be a little bit braver than me.”
You also don’t just need to take our word for it about how terrifying Host is because it was recently deemed the second-most scary movie of all time by actual science. The Science of Scare project measured 250 peoples’ heart rates, and gave Host a score of 95/100 which was only bested by Sinister.
Shudder//Amazon Prime
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Host’s runtime also means you can easily fit it in this weekend as part of a double-bill with another horror movie. Other recent additions to Shudder Selects on Channel 5 include V/H/S 85, Mayhem, The Cleansing Hour and The Ranger.
Or you could just watch Host again to spot things you missed first time around – if you’re brave enough.
Host is available to watch right now on Channel 5’s streaming service.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.