an of-our-moment frightener whose storyline takes a back seat to its penetrating undertone of disconnected anxiety, made all the more impactful by how authentically it captures our now daily ritual of grasping for each other across the digital void.

| Jul 3, 2024

...in a genre that’s challenging enough itself with various forms (see also the brilliantly written and shocking 2018 masterpiece Searching), Host took advantage of a global pandemic in a delicious way.

| Jul 26, 2023

Host is an innovative, timely, and terrifying Zoom-based horror film that mines classic found footage tropes for fresh new scares and uses technological and logistical limitations to its advantage.

| Dec 7, 2022

Host isn't more than a haunted house in a virtual mosaic where none of the characters asks herself what would happen if they left the chat and let the psychic, which doesn't seem that professional to boot, deal with the problem. [Full review in Spanish]

| Nov 23, 2022

A highly effective chiller that warrants multiple viewings as you find yourself scanning every inch of the frame for hidden dangers... the scariest film to be released during Lockdown.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 12, 2022

Host may go down as a rare anthropological document of what life was like for a relatively brief (and also excruciatingly long) period of time.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 17, 2022

Cinema made by fans for fans... devastatingly identifiable. [Full review in Spanish]

| Nov 15, 2021

Host has no fat and makes great use of personal screens' negative space and the social dynamics that unfold on Zoom.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 25, 2021

It's deeply clever, playing off familiar aspects of video call technology and not at all skimping on the stunts.

| Oct 22, 2021

There will be a lot of people saying they could have done it better, and if so, I'll happily watch their movie too if it's this effective.

| Sep 10, 2021

Sinisterly unsettling, expertly playing with where we are looking when

| Jul 8, 2021

Host is still an effective horror movie though and worth a watch if you enjoy watching movies alone on your computer.

| May 25, 2021

There is no way one can imagine how Rob Savage would serve us the dose of pure evil over the internet but when he does, it doesn't feel implausible for a single instance.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 9, 2021

An up-to-the-minute relevant horror film that all-too-accurately captures COVID anxiety. One of the best horror films of the year.

| Mar 30, 2021

The meticulous nature of Savage, writers Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepherd, and the cast makes this one of the best supernatural horror films I've seen to date.

| Original Score: 8.5/10 | Feb 19, 2021

Rather than doing the obvious thing and making the virus the monster, Host shows us how the social isolation exacerbated by the pandemic can make any traumatic experience all the more horrifying.

| Feb 18, 2021

By adapting to current world events and the popular technology that goes with it, Host further proves how crucial found footage is in capturing social fears.

| Original Score: 9.5/10 | Feb 16, 2021

What Host does is continue the tradition of found footage not just in the world of lockdown but also within an advancing age of interactive technology used day to day.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 14, 2021

Six friends hold a séance via a video conference and inadvertently admit something unknown into their meeting. Genius contemporary horror from Rob Savage and friends.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Feb 10, 2021

An effective shocker for our quarantine times.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 7, 2021