Unfriended (2015)

Back in 2018, there seemed to be a new wave of experimental filmmaking on the rise: films taking place entirely within a computer. While the concept of “shooting” a film entirely on a computer wasn’t a wholly original concept, it was never flushed out until a couple of years ago. The two Unfriended movies, as well as Searching, had attempted to pull the “computer movie” concept forward in the past yet wasn’t replicated in the mainstream. Despite the relative success of each of those films, the computer-screen genre faded away, with only a small number of indie films attempting to pull the idea further. Now, in an age where we responsible types have mostly stayed indoors and have had to communicate primarily by online video calls, the time has never been better to capitalize on the computer-screen genre.

Shudder’s Host (not a particularly original title, I must say) attempts to bring the spooks to “the quarantine generation” by presenting us with a scary Zoom call during lockdown. Dying of boredom and needing something to do, a small group of friends assemble their weekly video call together and invite a Medium for fun. Things inevitably go sour fast when one of the friends makes an obvious mockery of the whole ordeal, summoning an evil spirit instead of anyone they’d wish to contact; from there, death and jump-scares ensue.