Host works so well because of familiarly. It's the same sensation that the finale, which ingeniously uses Zoom's countdown feature to really raise audience pulses, targets as the Zoomers try desperately to penetrate darkness using only the flash of a polaroid camera. When, towards the end, only one character remains on-screen, and all that's visible of her is one terrified eye peering from under covers (an image so immediately iconic it's been used as Host's poster image), Savage presents multiple empty squares and the opportunity for a scare from any one of them. Host, in that respect, is one of the most satisfying movies, even when it's terrifying. Thanks to how short the film's runtime is, those surprises tend to come thick and fast and the atmospheric builds always get a pay-off. As soon as a character disappears from their screen, the audience is primed to expect something to happen. There are also key scenes that lean heavily on the idea of absence, which is amplified by the use of Zoom. It's an incredibly efficient way to build terror. Related: Shudder's Horror Noire is Essential for Fans of HorrorĪnd as soon as one thing happens in the background, or within any of the characters' homes, the audience then spend the rest of the time trying not to be surprised by something else looming out of the darkness. Because all of the characters are enthralled with one another and all staring at a screen, they ignore what's happening behind them, which opens up everything else the audience can see on their screen as a canvas for scares and blink-and-you'll-miss-it details that matter later. Not only that, but the platform also encourages the director to gleefully play around with the background. At times, there's a drop in signal quality, which robs the viewer of the certainty of vision - the same way The Blair Witch Project created tension through frantic, grainy filming - and one haunting sequence uses Zoom's fake background option to brilliantly scary effect. Host's story obviously requires darkness - and uses it brilliantly in the finale - because of the central seance (and the audience would challenge the logic of one done in stark light), but Rob Savage also uses the limits and defining characteristics of Zoom to prick up the same old fears.
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