Shudder recently released Host, a found footage horror for the quarantine era. The found footage flick follows a group of friends who hold a seance over video call in order to socialize and share a unique experience, and end up unleashing terror into their lives. The approximately hour long movie was shot entirely using Zoom, with writer and director Rob Savage having never met any of the actors in person. Everyone had to set up their own cameras, lighting and effects, but the final product is nothing short of spectacular.
You could easily assume that filming an entire movie over Zoom could be boring, since it feels like all we do in quarantine is attend Zoom meetings with the same people, at the same desks, with the same backgrounds every day. Fortunately Host was very clever in it’s use of the chat program, and found ways to make Zoom backgrounds, face filters and unstable WiFi connections to their advantage. The movie plays on all the usual haunted house tropes like the friend who doesn’t take it seriously, possible possession, and the concerned medium who warns against the dangers of malevolent forces. However, unlike most haunted house movies, this one takes those tropes and modernizes them to fit the real life circumstances we’re facing now. Rather than a family who just bought their dream home with the last of their savings only to find out it’s haunted, it plays on the fact that we are unable to leave our homes due to quarantine restrictions and fear of getting sick. The concerned medium represents the healthcare workers who have been warning us about the spread of Covid-19. The friend who doesn’t believe in the astral plane is that person who refuses to stop going out in public because they think they’re too young and healthy for it to affect them. The malevolent spirit is a virus that’s been let into our communities by non-believers, and wreaks havoc on innocent people who did nothing wrong.
With the internet currently being our only way to socialize and feel part of the conversation while stuck at home, Host does a great job of showing us the negative impact of being too online. We’re constantly plugged into the bad news cycle of right wing trolls, the President of the United States saying more unbelievable things by the hour, and coronavirus conspiracy theorists claiming that being asked to wear a mask is somehow against their rights. While it’s important to communicate with friends and family, and to stay up to date with the news about ongoing protests, the American presidential election and coronavirus, how much negativity and misinformation can we endure before it takes a toll?
While the negative impact of being online constantly is a relatively new discussion, a fear of technology and social media have given us plenty of inspiring horror movies, so if you’ve already checked out Shudder’s Host, here are some other technology and social media horror movies you may have missed!
Kairo (2001)
Kairo follows the haunted last day of a group of young people who visit a website that simply asks “Would you like to meet a ghost?”, before ultimately committing suicide. While the plot is a bit hard to follow, Kairo can be interpreted as being about Hikikomori; individuals who go out of their way to avoid social interaction, and the psychology behind the phenomenon. I used to be skeptical of this movie’s themes because to me, online friendships are real friendships. However, a few months of Covid-19 quarantine have given me a new appreciation for the occasional face-to-face interaction and I am truly feeling like a walking ghost without it.
FeardotCom (2002)
FeardotCom is about a group of detectives hurrying to solve the case of a mysterious website that causes viewers to go insane and die within 48 hours. While it received a negative response from critics at the time it came out, I think it was ahead of it’s time. A cautionary tale about online voyeurism and our collective obsession with tragedy.
The Den (2013)
The Den is a relatively unknown slasher film about a chat site similar to Chatroulette that only received a limited theatrical run before being released on VoD. It flew under the radar, but I believe it influenced a handful of social media horror movies that soon followed.
Unfriended (2014)
Unfriended is touted as being “the world’s first social media horror movie”, and while I disagree because The Den came out a year earlier, it was certainly the first to take off in popularity due to a viral online marketing campaign, and launch a successful franchise for jump scare loving teens!
CAM (2018)
Sex work is real work, and CAM (co-written by former cam-girl Issa Mazzei) shows the real horrors of para-social relationships, obsessed fans and stalkers that can come with being an online personality.
The Cackling Cauldron 