So, it was just a matter of time before someone decided to capitalize on the Covid quarantine and the fact that all interactions are now done primarily (or sometimes solely) on Zoom or other online videochat apps. Luckily, at least Shudder's HOST looks like an interesting take on the probably soon-to-be flooded market of videochat-based horror films (that I'll dub "conference call horror").
Anyway, you can check out for yourself in the trailer at the top of the aritcle, and below is the official synopsis:
HOST is the story of six friends who hire a medium to hold a séance over Zoom during lockdown, but they get far more than they bargain for as things quickly go wrong. When an evil spirit starts invading their homes, they begin to realize they might not survive the night.
Now, before someone mentions UNFRIENDED or SEARCHING, I'm aware this isn't the *first* film in this subgenre, but neither was THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT the first "found footage" film (movies like CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and THE LAST BROADCAST – among others – predated it), but I'm just bracing for a simular deluge of these types of films, the same way that post-BLAIR WITCH there were a glut of (mostly terrible) copycats. Hopefully I'm wrong.
Meanwhile, HOST – directed by Rob Savage, Haley Bishop, Radina Drandova, and Edward Linard, and starring Haley Bishop, Radina Drandova, Edward Linard, Jemma Moore, Caroline Ward, and Emma Louise Webb – will premiere on Shudder .
So what do you guys think? Is "conference call horror" going to be the new "found footage"? Either way, sound off below!
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