Host (2020) Limited Edition Blu-ray Review
Host (2020) Limited Edition Blu-ray Review
Lockdown horror hit, the hair-raising Host from director Rob Savage (Britannia, Soulmates) invites you to join the most chilling Zoom call ever made, as a demonic presence haunts a group of friends in a quarantine catch-up call gone horribly wrong. Fans of the affectingly contemporary, universally acclaimed Shudder Original film can expect a special feature packed Limited Edition Box Set Blu-ray release from Second Sight Films on 22 February 2021.
Weighing in at just under an hour’s runtime HOST manages to offer up more invention and scares for your buck than any number of other genre flicks twice the length. In fact director Rob Savage’s flick is so convincing that it took me while afterwards to assure my partner that what we had just watched was not real. HOST plays like a carnival ride building up momentum and piling on jump scares with glee as everything spectacularly gets out of hand for our on-screen protagonists.
HOST’s genesis came in the form of a short video (included as an extra on this release) whereby Savage pranked his friends during a group video chat. He started off by telling them that he has been hearing strange sounds coming from his attic before telling them all that he is going up there to investigate. Savage then spliced in a wee clip from horror hit [REC] that caused his online buddies to freak out. When the resulting video was posted online it went viral prompting the decision to adapt the short into a full-length film.
Filmed during the (current) COVID-19 pandemic and therefore under strict quarantine conditions the young cast were called upon to do their own camera operating, lighting, practical effects and stunts. There were also encourage to improvise, although there was also a script in place however that same script was redacted so parts of the cast were unaware of certain plot developments to keep their responses real.
Critics have been unanimous in their praise and comparisons have been made to the inferior but still reasonable UNFRIENDED (2014), and of the films that have been produced during this current pandemic HOST is by far the most successful in capturing the zeitgeist. HOST is a triumph of low-budget film-making and all the more so for the conditions under which it was produced and released – Recommended!
SPECIAL FEATURES
– New exclusive commentary by Director Rob Savage and Producer Douglas Cox
– New exclusive cast commentary
– New exclusive cast interview
– Behind-the-Scenes feature
– ‘Is There Goblins Now?’ – the original prank video
– ‘Kate Scare’ – prank video test run
– Rob Savage’s short films Dawn of the Deaf and Salt
– The Host Team Séance
– BFI Q&A with Rob Savage, Gemma Hurley, Jed Shepherd, Douglas Cox, Haley Bishop, Brenna Rangott, Caroline Ward
– Evolution of Horror interview with Rob Savage, Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepherd
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
– Rigid slipcase featuring new artwork by Thomas Walker
– Perfect-bound booklet with the original story outline and new essays by Ella Kemp and Rich Johnson
– 6 collectors’ art cards
