Rob Savage's 'Host' plays out like the greatest hits of found footage. It takes the scariest elements of genre favorites like 'The Blair Witch Project' (1999) and 'Paranormal Activity' (2007) and delivers a shock every few minutes. It is edited, crafted, and scripted well. The relaxed, naturalistic performances from the actors immediately create a sense of believability that helps when things start getting scary. A deceptively simple yet downright terrifying thrill ride.

Greetings from Lithuania.

The first mistake of "Host" (2020) i think that in its 56 min. length it was hardly possible to establish 4 or 5 characters at the same time. There was only a situation and jump scares - and that is it, that is the whole thing (I can't even call it a full feature film). In "Host" you get a premise as old as a Blair Witch herself. And we have seen all this stuff being done so many times, and in a so many better horror film. Even a first "Paranormal Activities" movie was a masterpiece in comparison with this one, because it took its time to establish situation and characters. Unfortunately "Host" doesn't have any of this. And there is also one dude Teddy i think was his name, who was so obnoxious that i was pretty happy when he was out of the picture at the end so to speak - literally.

Overall, "Host" isn't a terrible movie, and you can see an attempt to make something good on a very low budget and premise. That is not a bad thing, if its done right. But in 56 min. you only get bunch of jump scare scenes with some faces on a laptops. This is what "Host" basically is.

For a modern film in the 'jumpscare' sub-genre, it is amazing that all of the scares are the same tired cliches. Sometimes the same gag is employed in back-to-back scenes. Baffling.

We are introduced to a group of friends in a Zoom call, all of 'em forgettable non-characters. They're just there. They engage in a seance (there is no artistry to this - it is them literally asking 'is there anybody there' next to a candle) and then a demon shows up. Any questions this may raise go unanswered. A spooky spook is gonna get 'em. That's it. I could forgive this extreme streamlining of plot, narrative, character and story if we were taken on a rollercoaster ride. But no. It's slow and often tedious. Not even the short runtime can hide this fact. Very little happens and when it does, you've seen it before.

I'm not impressed by loud noises and 2-frame inserts of 'scary' faces. Horror is a genre with so much to offer. This sort of movie makes me wonder if the filmmakers actually like horror. I doubt it. I think this was made for cynical reasons. Nobody was burning to tell this story.

The production is poor, which can be forgiven for the lockdown circumstances in which it was made, but that means we also lose out on costume, lighting, set design, score, etc. The writing is too scant to even criticize. The acting is barely present, with the exception of Seylan Baxter as the medium, who is the only actor that manages to present herself like a real person. She's good, and represents my one star.