Host: Something Dark Has Joined the Meeting

I'm no great fan of horror, but I had seen several of the director's short films, including the 2 minute video that led to this one, so I got a trial on the horror channel just to watch this. I've also only used Zoom once, and rarely use video during conference calls, so in that sense I am not quite target audience for this. Despite this it worked very well. The plot sees a group of friends all stuck in their various homes, using Zoom to get together and do a virtual séance for a bit of fun. Sticking with the Zoom format in a sort of 'found-footage' approach for the modern age, it follows the séance as it 'goes wrong'.

At a tight 60 minutes running time, the film doesn't waste a lot of time, but opens nicely so that we are in familiar territory - the technical issues, the glitches, the slightly forced air of 'fun', the people who put in too much effort, and the people who are showing off a bit too obviously. Whether you find that engaging or annoying, it is certainly convincing. From here we move into the bangs and odd occurrences, and things escalate quickly. The cast do a lot of good work in convincing of their fear - and given that mostly we are focused on faces looking at screens, it is an important factor. Mostly the scares are jump scares, but the consistency of them does create its own mood and tension. It is very much a genre piece, with Blair Witch, (Rec.), and endless other horrors in its construct - rather than seem derivative though, it manages to feel like it is drawing on the past to inform the current; it may not date well, but certainly for the current time the use of lockdown, isolations, Zoom chats etc, it does fit and works well.

Best watched like you're on the call - on a laptop in a darkened room.

OMFG this was a very surprising experience. I didn't read the comments about this movie, I didn't believe the ratings, but I really love this type of a horror. and the best is that it's only an hour long, everything is in point. don't expect much from this and you'll be rewarded 😈💜

First of all, the reviewer who stated this movie is formulaic needs to learn the definition. I know what they are trying to say, but that isn't the correct word.

I enjoyed this movie, it was intense without music or an abundance of sound effects and the acting was very good.

I saw a trailer for this appearing on the IMDB homepage and I told my wife to look it up! Looks good! The movie was very in the moment as far as the quarantine, and a lot of people can find that relatable. Plenty of jump scares and I was on the edge of my seat! Very entertaining and it kept my interest. The acting looked intense and real. These people looked terrified! Getting down to the point, I thought this movie was great and It's not even an hour, so even If you're a hater and don't like it, it wasn't much time lost. Peace.

It's pretty well done but a really shallow movie.

The Zoom angle adds a bit of freshness, but it's not as good as the first Unfriended.

lots of loud noises, shaky camera's and essentially a long series of jump scares knitted together - even at 60 mins it felt a bit too long

Inane chat, but fairly natural conversations, zero story, but what it does, it does well. Just don't come looking for something engaging - it's a ghostrain on film.