HOST

OUT 18 JANUARY / CERT 15 / 56 MINS

In a year fairly bulging with cracking horror flicks, from Relic to His House, the best of them all might just be a micro-budget slab of ingenuity filmed in its cast’s kitchens and bedrooms. Much has been made of how Host is relatable because its plot — a group of friends host a séance over Zoom, only for things to go horribly wrong when a demon rocks up and won’t log off — hits home with everyone who’s had to endure the sheer ignominy of online calls during the pandemic. And while that’s true, the film’s success is down to how expertly Savage escalates the film’s impressive and inventive array of shocks and scares, with his excellent cast (all friends in real life) selling the hell out of their terror and tears. The last 20 minutes (of a film that isn’t even an hour long, and thus pushes the boundaries of what is and isn’t considered a film) is a relentless assault of images that marks Savage out as a serious talent to watch.