Shudder’s new original film just hit the horror streamer this week, and packs a trailer that is both knowingly derivative but fun in its own especially “DIY” sort of way. Of which I can only assume Host will be a prime example. That means all of the Zoom commercials, the Zoom sketches on SNL, and yes, the Zoom horror movies. After this fun and uniquely of-the-moment exercise in horror, I think I’ll stick with Teams.When we’re looking back on the age of the coronavirus pandemic a few years from now-hopefully that will actually come to pass-then we’ll surely at some point have to collect all of this era’s “Zoom parody” pieces into a single tome for assessment of how they reflected our anxieties of living through the pandemic. But even the jump scares are great just another testament to this entertaining, creative, and collaborative effort. Whether fresh or familiar, Savage - along with the cast remotely handling their individual special effects and lighting - largely goes for tech-assisted creepiness over cheap startles. All these scares rely on familiar tactics, but many cleverly twist Zoom-specific features into legitimately eerie sequences. And then forty-plus minutes of relentless suspense and scares. Ten minutes of introductions, interactions, and devilish teases all of which feel wonderfully real: REC’s handheld authenticity updated for today’s tech. That’s the story, and Host owns its simplicity. Thankfully just a convenient movie scenario, and not an anxiety-inducing reality. Bored friends stuck at home because of COVID take part in a tele-seance over Zoom things go very wrong. Plot-wise, Host isn’t reinventing the wheel of found footage horror or Unfriended‘s digital screen angle. Host thrives on those aspects, lasting under an hour (for diegetic reasons) but packed with natural, relatable character beats and a wealth of creepy moments that utilize the film’s Zoom framework to awesome effect. In his horror shorts “Salt” and “Dawn of the Deaf”, director Rob Savage displayed a talent for succinctly-paced set-up/pay-off and succinctly-established characters.

Fun fact: the cast all handled their individual special effects, lighting, etc.

Shudder zoom movie