HOSTS (DIR: ADAM LEADER AND RICHARD OAKES)

They know when to spook and when to shock, and they know how to press an audience’s buttons. The score by Benjamin Symons is great, full of tension and eeriness. The discordant Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies was a perfect choice too! It was just a really fun watch.

Ah, Christmas. Is there any more awkward time for a family? Arguments over what to watch on TV, long-held secrets bubbling to the surface, demon-possessed guests spoiling dinner.  It’s not all tinsel and pressies, as film-makers Richard Oakes and Adam Leader remind us in Hosts, their impressive first feature as writer-directors.
 
When we’re introduced to Jack (Neal Ward) and Lucy (Samantha Loxeley), they seem like a normal sickeningly-in-love couple. They’re getting ready to go visit their neighbour Michael (Frank Jakeman) and his family for Christmas dinner when things quickly take a turn for the demonic. Cue sinister glowing eyes, bloody murder and the worst Christmas since that time your racist uncle Steve dropped by and drank all the brandy.
 
First things first – this film looks gorgeous. Oakes’ background in cinematography and music videos is a huge help here, as he has an eye for great shots. The directors make full use of this, with plenty of scenes that ramp up the creep factor from visuals alone. I love me some Dutch angles. The special effects are superb too, especially in the chilling possession scenes, especially especially in the very first one we see. Brrr! That image will stay with me for a while, I can tell you. The blood and gore are handled well too, it all feels very natural and realistic.
 
There’s something chilling about the thought that you willingly invited evil into your home, that your family are in danger because of your own hospitality. Couple that with the threat being from people that you don’t know are a threat, people you consider friends and perhaps even family? It hits you in a deep dark primal place. As events play out, you can’t help but feel for the victims because all they did was offer to share a Christmas meal.
 
A lot of the credit for this goes to the actors, especially Nadia Lamin as Michael’s daughter Lauren. She sells the distress and the terror very well, and not just as the blood is flung around. Ward and Loxley clearly have a whale of a time as they stalk around being sinister and terrorising the poor family who invited them in. They’re a joy to watch, and they each get some extremely creepy moments to shine in.
 
It does lead me to the first of the things that fell a little short here, though. When Michael invites them in, he doesn’t spot how off they are. No one does, no one notices that their friends are acting like monosyllabic automatons – it’s especially jarring because of how natural and bubbly the couple were at the beginning. It feels a little like Oakes and Leader have played their hand a little too early, as there would have been some good mileage in ramping up the paranoia if the possessed had the ability to appear normal. There’s also a weird moment in the climax that took me right out of the film; I obviously can’t go into details because I don’t want to spoil it, but where did the rope come from? Did I miss a set-up for that pay-off?
 
The story does have a tendency to run out of steam a little in the most emotionally-charged scenes, which do sadly drag and outstay their welcome a little. These scenes start great, but they each take a little too long to get to the emotional punches and it just takes the wind out of their sails a bit. I will say though that prolonging one particular moment makes it all the more jarring and shocking when one of the film’s most brutal acts of violence happens – I laughed and clapped like a toddler, but then I’m a sick man. There’s also a scene that plays out similarly to a scene in Us, but it didn’t quite work in the context of this film, though it was a game attempt at slipping some exposition in without just stopping and explaining what’s happening.
 
You might think that these problems would spoil the movie for me, but no. The thing is, there’s so much to enjoy in the film that these issues are far outweighed. There’s a great sense of fun to it all – not in the sense that it doesn’t take itself seriously, but in how its executed and put together. Oakes and Leader clearly love horror, and they make good use of the tropes and conventions. They know when to spook and when to shock, and they know how to press an audience’s buttons. The score by Benjamin Symons is great, full of tension and eeriness. The discordant Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies was a perfect choice too! It was just a really fun watch.
 
Hosts is a great directorial debut, with a compellingly tense story and brilliant performances all round, sure to leave a lasting impression. I’m looking forward to their next horror feature Dirge!
 
Review by Sam Kurd 

Further reading 

CALEB WATCHES MOVIES: HOSTS
HORROR MOVIE REVIEW: HOSTS (DIR: ADAM LEADER AND RICHARD OAKES)
WHO LET THE DEMONS OUT?  AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTORS OF HOSTS, ADAM LEADER AND RICHARD OAKES