Watch: This Zoom prank inspired the new horror film Host – Boing Boing

Director Rob Savage got a reaction out of his friends last April with a jump-scare prank on Zoom. He told them he'd been hearing things in his attic, and, with them on the call, decided to investigate with a knife. The prank went so well, it inspired him to write and direct the long short film (under an hour) Host, which is now streaming on Shudder.

From Mashable:

Hosts premise revolves around a group of friends meeting up on Zoom to stay in touch while social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. One of the friends, the uptight but justified Hayley (Haley Bishop), sets up the meeting as an online seance, calling in a medium to provide some low-key thrills for her friends. The seance goes about as well as any seance goes in a horror movie, though Host is far from typical in its brilliance and unique execution.

Though Host takes place on a computer screen, it feels different from previous attempts at laptop horror because its principal photography actually took place using the devices used by the characters. In an interview with SF Chronicle, director Rob Savage explained that he got Zooms permission to use their software in the film, taught the actors how to set up spooky effects with fishing wire, and directed their performances over video chat. His authentic approach seeps into Hosts final product, making its quality all the more impressive.

Always on the lookout for new horror/science fiction/dystopian films for Friday movie nights, I know what I'll be watching tonight. Here's the trailer for Host.

Danny Takacs (homepage) wrote and directed this four-minute jumper about a woman who discovers a sinister secret hiding in her crawlspace. The buildups good, you know its coming, but it gets you all the same.

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With everybody cooped up inside right now, its no surprise that many houses are starting to get a little bitwell, funky. Yeahthey smell. With everybody running around and sweating and working and cooking and everything else, odors get trapped inside your home. And dont even get us started on what happens when litter boxes and []

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Watch: This Zoom prank inspired the new horror film Host - Boing Boing

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero