I write and research horror for a living and can genuinely say _Host_ is a gloriously creepy experience. Some of the set-pieces are just brilliant - and scared the hell outta me. Highly recommended.
One of the most, if not The most, compelling, creative contemporary horror films ever made. Imaginative play on the lockdown scenario, use of internet and Zoom meetings! Highly convincing and creepy.
We thoroughly enjoyed it in my house - definitely the spookiest film we've seen this year - and a great example of how much can be achieved with limited resources. I very much look forward to the team's future work.
It scared the s-t out of me. For real. After it finished I left my bedroom to make a cup of tea and the hall light was *FLICKERING* Too much. Just *too much*
There's a particularly nasty quality to it that's hard to put your finger on. It's like, yeah, we've seen all this stuff before a billion times, but somehow it hits harder than usual here and I'm honestly not sure why.
I have a hard time figuring that out too. I think it’s either how unscripted and real it all felt or how good the effects were. They used every common ghost gimmick in the horror industry but it was still so effective
I have been watching Aneesh Chaganty's "Searching" a few weeks ago. It's not a horror movie but it has a similar concept. Very good film, and I liked the idea of telling a story on nothing but a computer screen. I think I will watch this film, too.
Mark you should definitely watch "Searching" if you enjoyed this film. It's a proper thriller and one of the best movies I've watched in the last decade.
When we saw The Blair Witch Project at the flix on the day of release, we went in with the belief that it was genuine found footage (due to the marketing at the time, and presumably our youthful idiocy), the expectation that it wouldn't be convincing, and the intention of debunking it all. We left shaken, nervously exchanging sentiments of "Well, evil ghosts are real then", before sensible analysis took over and we concluded that the marketing must be a hoax on the basis that if it were genuine, it would have made international news and become the target of scientific enquiry. It got us for a moment, though.
Short and sharp. And we have all recently been in that strange space (lockdown, no contacts). This little film was gripping, and scary, and real because this is how all our lives are now. Also, no one should ever try a seance. Not from this film; from personal experience. It gets real quick; and what you summon does not leave. And may never have left.
I mean ... It's a better and far more effective movie than 'Covid 21'. Who greenlighted that mad film? Host made during lock down? That deserves some applause. It does have a Blair Witch 'edge' as Mark says. I enjoyed it.
I watched it earlier. It's everything MK described to a tee (unsurprisingly). Not just one of the best found footage horrors ever made, it's one of the most insanely effective horror films ever made PERIOD! I am a hardcore horror fan and I could barely watch this through my fingers in places! 😝😉👌
Hard to credit this review. I mean Host was pretty much only defined by two things: "found footage" and "quiet, quiet, quiet, BANG"...two sub-genres of horror that Kermode steadfastly professes to hate. So I'm confused...
Ha! Using Cannibal Holocaust as inspiration for this. Genius. I agree, it was a pretty “shiversome” flick indeed. I liked it. Jumped a few times and took me a few minutes to get to sleep for sure!
Really surprised by Kermode’s take on this. Horror is just all about what rings true to you I guess. Personally one of the scariest movies I’ve seen Kermode emphatically thinks isn’t scary (Insidious) but I personally found Host to be really embarrassing.
@@videomania1780 same tired tried and tested formula that we seen in 2007 with paranormal activity which spawned 6 or 7 sequels. Chairs being flung across the room and people levetating is just tough to watch.. The noughties were rampant with possession movies which relied on these 'scares'.. Very very dull. I never consider kemodes opinion on a film. When parasite came out he said it was perfect and that he had already watched it 3 times and couldn't wait to see it a 4th time.. It was so dull..
It was scary but not good. If this Demon was so powerful, why not kill everyone to begin with? Now is the world doomed now that this one Demon is released? Stupid and the Demon takes a ghost form and then takes a zombie form for two jump scares. None of it works, it's either a ghost movie or a zombie/ghoul movie. Mark compares it to Blairwitch but that's already been done! Done over 20 years ago.... 5/10
Shocked and dumbfounded that Mark likes this awful movie. Especially when he hated Paranormal Activity. It used every trick in that book. I loved PA 1 and 3 and I also thought BW was not in any way scary at all. So many times in this you felt yourself saying, um, either 1, turn your lights on!, or 2, run out of the house! or 3, didn't you find that in any way weird that your chair pulled you back across the room??!! There have been so many quiet quiet bang movies I'm just astonished this has caught Marks attention. Wow. My girlfriend gets absolutely freaked out by horror movies and even she thought this was really naff.
@@xplaybwoix every character is stupid and/or unlikeable, and the “fear” is generated by an unending parade of jump scares you can see coming a mile away. It’s literally “Quiet, quiet, quiet, BANG!: The Movie.” I spent the entire runtime rolling my eyes and checking my watch.
It also doesn’t help that the subject matter as presented has been rendered hilariously bad by ten Paranormal Activity movies and a slew of ghost hunting shows that have become self-parody.
@@MadailinBurnhope it doesn’t surprise me that a Host fan’s idea of a riposte is to merely repeat my original statement with little new content added. The irony is delicious.
Couldn't agree more.. I cringed whole way through.. Paranormal activity was 3 years ago this feels like nothing new. Watching people fly across a room on camera is just dull
"shiver-somely scary" really? Were we even watching the same film!! I watched this (on Blu-ray) last night & found it kinda disappointing. If you've seen any of the Paranormal Activity films (from 2007 onwards) you will be pretty much in the same territory with this. It's not bad, but it's not great either.
Yet again Kermode gives me a bum steer. Longest 65 minutes I've spent in a long time. Big, wet, ugly faces whimpering and screaming into the camera for an hour. If that's your bag, have at it!
I write and research horror for a living and can genuinely say _Host_ is a gloriously creepy experience. Some of the set-pieces are just brilliant - and scared the hell outta me. Highly recommended.
One of the most, if not The most, compelling, creative contemporary horror films ever made. Imaginative play on the lockdown scenario, use of internet and Zoom meetings! Highly convincing and creepy.
We thoroughly enjoyed it in my house - definitely the spookiest film we've seen this year - and a great example of how much can be achieved with limited resources. I very much look forward to the team's future work.
Hands down the most effective horror I’ve seen in years.
Watched this twice in two days back in lockdown, genuinely enjoyed it! Would recommend it to anyone looking for a jumpy film
"From the producer of Monkey Tennis". I will never tire of saying that.
It scared the s-t out of me. For real. After it finished I left my bedroom to make a cup of tea and the hall light was *FLICKERING* Too much. Just *too much*
There's a particularly nasty quality to it that's hard to put your finger on. It's like, yeah, we've seen all this stuff before a billion times, but somehow it hits harder than usual here and I'm honestly not sure why.
I have a hard time figuring that out too. I think it’s either how unscripted and real it all felt or how good the effects were. They used every common ghost gimmick in the horror industry but it was still so effective
I get you too man like for some reason even knowing it's fake it just hits really hard
If you haven't seen Host I would highly recommend it.
I thought it was really scary & as a jaded 40 year old horror fan that makes me super happy
I have been watching Aneesh Chaganty's "Searching" a few weeks ago. It's not a horror movie but it has a similar concept. Very good film, and I liked the idea of telling a story on nothing but a computer screen. I think I will watch this film, too.
I need to watch your show more often, that was a solid recommendation. Thank you.
Saw this ages ago. It's just excellent.
Mark you should definitely watch "Searching" if you enjoyed this film. It's a proper thriller and one of the best movies I've watched in the last decade.
When we saw The Blair Witch Project at the flix on the day of release, we went in with the belief that it was genuine found footage (due to the marketing at the time, and presumably our youthful idiocy), the expectation that it wouldn't be convincing, and the intention of debunking it all. We left shaken, nervously exchanging sentiments of "Well, evil ghosts are real then", before sensible analysis took over and we concluded that the marketing must be a hoax on the basis that if it were genuine, it would have made international news and become the target of scientific enquiry. It got us for a moment, though.
This movie and "His House" truly terrified me in 2020.
Sounds like my kind of film. I shall be adding this on my ‘to watch’ list.
I wasn't expecting much, and was prepared for it to underwhelm me. Until....eeek!
Short and sharp. And we have all recently been in that strange space (lockdown, no contacts). This little film was gripping, and scary, and real because this is how all our lives are now.
Also, no one should ever try a seance. Not from this film; from personal experience. It gets real quick; and what you summon does not leave. And may never have left.
Best use of Zoom since Hitch ‘n’ Spielberg. Outstanding film.
It's very good. Nicely creepy, inventive and effective. Great stuff!
Saw this a few months ago...it’s great. Properly spooky and well acted. Give it a go,
I mean ... It's a better and far more effective movie than 'Covid 21'. Who greenlighted that mad film?
Host made during lock down? That deserves some applause. It does have a Blair Witch 'edge' as Mark says. I enjoyed it.
I watched it earlier. It's everything MK described to a tee (unsurprisingly). Not just one of the best found footage horrors ever made, it's one of the most insanely effective horror films ever made PERIOD! I am a hardcore horror fan and I could barely watch this through my fingers in places! 😝😉👌
Loved this!!
For me, the movie was made by how convincingly terrified Caroline looked.
Movie released in April. Reviewed in December
Who would've thought Mark would like HOST better than MANK?
No birdsong?
I saw Host a while ago on Shudder. It is a great little horror film. Also no birdsong in the clip 😱
Unfriended would've worked so much better without that dumb final jumpscare. This one sounds intriguing!
I thought host was amazing and scary
Hard to credit this review. I mean Host was pretty much only defined by two things: "found footage" and "quiet, quiet, quiet, BANG"...two sub-genres of horror that Kermode steadfastly professes to hate. So I'm confused...
My favourite horror movie of the year.
Ha! Using Cannibal Holocaust as inspiration for this. Genius. I agree, it was a pretty “shiversome” flick indeed. I liked it. Jumped a few times and took me a few minutes to get to sleep for sure!
Host is brilliant, as was Unfriended.
Great jump scares but it's been there done that.
This a great horror film! Really scared me!
Brilliant film, I loved it.
Don't think they're great films but Paranormal Activity deserves a nod in this review..
Really surprised by Kermode’s take on this.
Horror is just all about what rings true to you I guess.
Personally one of the scariest movies I’ve seen Kermode emphatically thinks isn’t scary (Insidious) but I personally found Host to be really embarrassing.
Couldn't agree more with this comment
why?
@@videomania1780 same tired tried and tested formula that we seen in 2007 with paranormal activity which spawned 6 or 7 sequels. Chairs being flung across the room and people levetating is just tough to watch.. The noughties were rampant with possession movies which relied on these 'scares'.. Very very dull. I never consider kemodes opinion on a film. When parasite came out he said it was perfect and that he had already watched it 3 times and couldn't wait to see it a 4th time.. It was so dull..
EE why weren’t the naughty words tweeted out?
WHERE WAS THE BIRDSONG????
It was bleeped in the radio broadcast
It was scary but not good. If this Demon was so powerful, why not kill everyone to begin with? Now is the world doomed now that this one Demon is released? Stupid and the Demon takes a ghost form and then takes a zombie form for two jump scares. None of it works, it's either a ghost movie or a zombie/ghoul movie. Mark compares it to Blairwitch but that's already been done! Done over 20 years ago.... 5/10
The two unfriended films weren't bad at all - this looks to be an exact copy..the conceit looks tired now
@callmecatalyst i'll give it a watch:)
Sounds great.
Unfriended the lockdown version
I thought it was okay, but both of the Unfriended films were better for me
Shocked and dumbfounded that Mark likes this awful movie. Especially when he hated Paranormal Activity. It used every trick in that book. I loved PA 1 and 3 and I also thought BW was not in any way scary at all. So many times in this you felt yourself saying, um, either 1, turn your lights on!, or 2, run out of the house! or 3, didn't you find that in any way weird that your chair pulled you back across the room??!! There have been so many quiet quiet bang movies I'm just astonished this has caught Marks attention. Wow. My girlfriend gets absolutely freaked out by horror movies and even she thought this was really naff.
I found this far superior to Paranormal Activity which I just found dull and not in the least scary.
I wouldn’t have put Cannibal Holocaust in the same sentence. This isn’t bad but CH is in a league of its own when it comes to found footage
This is everything terrible about the last decade of horror movies distilled into a 57-minute pile of garbage.
Please can you elaborate
@@xplaybwoix every character is stupid and/or unlikeable, and the “fear” is generated by an unending parade of jump scares you can see coming a mile away. It’s literally “Quiet, quiet, quiet, BANG!: The Movie.” I spent the entire runtime rolling my eyes and checking my watch.
It also doesn’t help that the subject matter as presented has been rendered hilariously bad by ten Paranormal Activity movies and a slew of ghost hunting shows that have become self-parody.
@@MadailinBurnhope it doesn’t surprise me that a Host fan’s idea of a riposte is to merely repeat my original statement with little new content added. The irony is delicious.
Couldn't agree more.. I cringed whole way through.. Paranormal activity was 3 years ago this feels like nothing new. Watching people fly across a room on camera is just dull
Watched it last night.. Its actually terrible. Paranormal activity is 13 years old... Nothing new here. Cringed at the "scares"
Absolutely gobsmacked at the praise I'm seeing for this film. Almost no redeemable qualities.
You obviously have no taste
@@cosmic4795
Please, enlighten me with your refined selection of horror films. What constitutes as 'taste'?
Couldn't disagree more.
"shiver-somely scary" really?
Were we even watching the same film!!
I watched this (on Blu-ray) last night & found it kinda disappointing. If you've seen any of the Paranormal Activity films (from 2007 onwards) you will be pretty much in the same territory with this. It's not bad, but it's not great either.
Yet again Kermode gives me a bum steer. Longest 65 minutes I've spent in a long time. Big, wet, ugly faces whimpering and screaming into the camera for an hour. If that's your bag, have at it!
First view, just saying
@@cineturon Hahahaha
@@tauhid610 I am, still!
@@tauhid610 try harder, that's just lazy, obviously you didn't get the mood of irony here.