Sean Parker
Horror gameshow films have been around for a while now. My first introduction to the subgenre was likely through a segment of the John Ritter comedy Stay Tuned as a kid, a gateway horror title toward films like The Running Man, Deathrow Gameshow, $la$hers, and The Uh-Oh Show, which have all enhanced the depths of what you can do on a horror quiz show. Still, gameshows have infiltrated a lot of our favorite slasher films as well. What would any Saw movie be without a timer and a decision to choose life or death? Through subverting the idea of cash prizes, death is usually on the menu in these films. Of course, you can’t have that choice without the dark charm of Tobin Bell, and that stands true for DW Medoff’s latest feature, Your Host, which features an equally beguiling Jackie Earle Haley as the not-so-friendly face of one f*cked up game.
Haley slides back into the slasher movie scene, fifteen years since portraying Freddy Kruger in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Haley stars as disgraced game show host Barry Miller, drugging and kidnapping four friends from their isolated vacation house, bringing them to a grimy slaughterhouse, and forcing them to play his sadistic games on camera for his amusement. Donning a cracked cowl, a flashy suit, and a bit of wide-eyed crazy, Haley imbues his role with a sense of theater, looking like a modern Phantom of the Opera, and there’s definitely more than a little thematic comparability, as Your Host tells a story of a broken man driven to monsterdom after a lie becomes an opportunity.
Now it’s time to meet the contestants. Foundation’s Ella-Rae Smith stars as Anita alongside Get Even’s Joelle Rae as Melissa, Avatar: The Way of Water’s Jamie Flatters as James, and The Devil’s Hour’s David Angland as Matthew. Your Host begins like any standard slasher fair with this talented cast heading for the countryside and a commentary forming around cancellable behavior. James’s demeanor is that of a frat party boy, inappropriate, volatile, and brimming with privilege. It isn’t long before he gets on the nerves of everyone in the house, and that of the viewer as well. Once the group is abducted and forced to play Miller’s games, it becomes glitteringly apparent that there is a unique social commentary emerging about truth and justice. No one in this group is exactly innocent, as they’re forced to divulge their darkest secrets to the mask-wearing psychopath.
Written by Joey Miller, Your Host doesn’t exactly come together well. Miller attempts to warp the idea of “inappropriate behavior” through obfuscation and whataboutism, recounting the events in Haley’s Miller’s life that led him to create this rebellion of pure vengeance. While there is a degree of this that may deserve some discussion, Medoff’s film seems to suggest that the elite are the only ones affected because money plays a factor in the decision of victims of these acts to come forward. While I can understand wanting to explore some of that, the film comes off as tone-deaf in its approach, even if Haley’s Miller feels it’s important to manufacture consequences for his freewheeling victims. While ambitious, the themes just never coalesce smoothly.
Otherwise, the film very much feels like another entry in the Saw franchise, with Haley being the draw. His wonderously emotive energy is infectious and compels you to continue watching. Flatters plays a bit of a heavy hand with his utter abhorrence, but at least he’s somewhat memorable to the moral characters that never seem to grow beyond two-dimensional slasher film characters. Gorehounds and torture-porn-enthusiasts are sure to love the blood-spatter of grotesque body mutilations and fatalities the film has in store. However, beyond one character’s memorable death scene, originality is limited.
To that extent, I found additional disappointment in Your Host’s slaughterhouse set reveal. These are the same sort of warehouses we see throughout the Saw movies, and more of the reason it feels like it belongs in that universe. While Haley has the charisma for the game-show-psycho, the set affects the illusion of showmanship. Your Host could have pivoted to a location like that of Tales from the Void episode, Starlight. Another horror gameshow concept, that takes place with another host bursting with personality, but in an auditorium with flashier set pieces in order to trick their lured players. Putting into context that Haley’s Miller has been waiting years to enact his revenge, I believe it would only make sense for his psychosis to veer into a dark carnival version of his old game show, but that it would look slightly more polished than it ends up.
Regardless, I have a lot of mixed emotions about Your Host. While it is extremely rewatchable, outside of Haley, it isn’t the most remarkable. It’s a blood-soaked gorefest with some intense moments, making it very marketable. The film will find an audience, but how they feel after they’ve seen it may reveal more about them than they intend. If you like gameshow horror titles and the Saw movies, Your Host is waiting to show you what you’ve won.
Your Host held its UK Premiere at FrightFest on Friday, August 22. For more information on this and other films playing at the festival, please see the FrightFest website.
Your Host Official Trailer
Four friends get trapped in a sadistic game show, forced to outwit a twisted serial killer while racing against time. Every move brings them closer to freedom or a gruesome fate
