I’ll give credit to Your Host: It progresses from start to middle to end in a very straightforward way and rarely deviates from its goal, which is to entertain and disturb with its hellish atmosphere and crazy ringlinder leading the way. Hats off to that, and there are some good performances along the way, but the whole torture and gore scene seems played out now. The horror film offers little to add beyond that, except to revel in its ludicrous and violent stage, which at least makes it successful in that aspect.
The film follows four twenty-somethings, and from the first introductions to the end of the movie, none seem more than annoying, entitled brats. Anita (Ella-Rae Smith), James (Jamie Flatters), Matthew (David Angland), and Melissa (Joella Rae) all exude social media-weary personalities that have buried or destroyed who they are. When an old VHS camera is found, it leads them to being drugged, abducted, and chained up, which is where we meet their host and the star of the film.
Barry (Jackie Earle Haley) is the ringmaster who welcomes the four contestants to his twisted game of death. He’s intriguing, a mix of manic, sadism, and sadness. He’s a man yearning to be adored on stage yet twisted in rage and revenge to the point that nothing makes sense to him except the satisfaction of performing and, of course, dealing out death. Haley fully commits to this role, diving headfirst into it and making it his own. He moves away from familiar horror icons like Jigsaw just enough to carve out something unique for himself, at least some of the time. He guides the contestants through mentally and physically punishing contests, maiming, bleeding, wounding, and killing along the way.
If it were just the film, that would be fine. But it also touches on the sensitive topic of women speaking out about sexual assault and harassment. I understand the point being made about accusations and their fallout, but like the film itself, it sometimes handled it too forcefully and at other times as a shocking revelation. This will likely leave some fans confused or wondering why they chose to go there.
Beyond that, director DW Medoff and writer Joey Miller have the film well-structured from start to finish, and at around ninety minutes, there isn’t much wasted time. Letting the manic Barry take the lead, Medoff effectively utilizes the setting and atmosphere to create a strong sense of dread as the four contestants initially plead, then beg, and finally become angry and try to escape their captor. It’s an intriguing cat-and-mouse game that Barry always seems to be a few steps ahead of, whether it’s planned or crazy is open to debate.
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The problem is that this is all old news. Torture porn, if you will, is outdated and has lost its shock value. Yes, some of the kills are gruesome, but since they are always the payoff for certain contests, they mostly fall flat and take the air out of the film repeatedly. Also, the four captives are so unlikeable that you almost find yourself hoping Barry will kill them just to shut them up. It creates a strange situation—who is worse here, the killer or the captives—and beyond Haley’s performance, it’s hard to really care.
The good news is that fans of this horror subgenre will be satisfied, and Jackie Earle Haley is a delight to watch on screen. However, for the most part, there’s no new ground covered, and unlikable characters make you wish for their deaths so the movie can just be over.
