Host

During the 2020 lockdown six friends arrange a séance over Zoom with a medium, looking for a spooky break from isolation. What begins with teasing and dares soon turns unsettling as odd sounds, freezes, and disturbing images escalate, and whatever is on the call starts to affect people's homes. Each friend deals with strange, localized intrusions while the others watch helplessly on their screens. Tensions rise, alliances strain, and the night becomes a fight to stay alive, all shown through webcams, chats, and on-screen glitches. The actors use their own names, which makes the fear feel immediate as casual banter tips into panicked improvisation.

Directed by Rob Savage from a concept by Jed Shepherd and Gemma Hurley, Host was filmed under lockdown conditions in 2020, leaning on remote setups and a small cast to turn constraints into a storytelling tool.

It premiered mainly on streaming and video-on-demand platforms rather than in wide theatrical release, so there was no notable box office return, but the film reached many viewers through rentals and online sharing.

Host became a shorthand for pandemic-era horror, showing how effective a film can be when made with webcams and minimal crew. Clips, reaction videos, and online watch parties helped spread interest, and its success encouraged other filmmakers to try screen-based formats and remote production experiments.

Audiences rated it around 6.5 out of 10, often praising the tension and inventive use of the medium while noting the format can feel limiting at times. The film leans on themes of isolation, the uncanny intimacy of screens, and the idea that the places where we feel safest can become vulnerable. It keeps scares tight and immediate, using technical hiccups and familiar domestic spaces to turn everyday trappings of lockdown into sources of dread.