Ghost In The Machine [Review: Host]

Housebound under lockdown conditions, Haley and her friends decide to use their weekly Zoom call to carry out an online séance. Haley (Haley Bishop) has hired a medium, Seylan (Seylan Baxter), to lead them in what will no doubt be a fun, entertaining evening without anything sinister or dangerous happening. What could possibly go wrong?

Host (2020) is a found-footage horror movie that takes place in real time during a Zoom call. It’s not in any way related to The Host (2013), the movie based on Stephenie Meyer’s alien parasite rom com novel reviewed here, or to Korean newt-based horror The Host (2006), reviewed here. Host is set during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic - and it was also filmed during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, during a period of lockdown. Cast and crew could not leave their own homes so had to set up equipment and film themselves at home, with director Rob Savage guiding them remotely. The concept of the Zoom séance is a clever way to make a film under these tough conditions.

Other aspects of the film add to the improvised feel – the cast all use their own names, and family members appear in cameo or supporting roles. The script makes good use of all the Zoom cliches we’ve grown to love tolerate over the past year – sound and vision glitches, people joining while mute, dodgy animated backgrounds, pyjamas and badly-timed Ocado deliveries. Acting is excellent, there’s a lot of humour, and there’s a good, gradual ramping up of tension leading to full-on catastrophe.

In a year where making any movie has been difficult, a crew have come together against the odds to release a new, low-budget, creepy and effective horror movie not unlike Paranormal Activity, reviewed here. In fact my only criticism of this movie is that it is a little too like Paranormal Activity, with one or two fright scenes almost borrowed wholesale. For this reason, although I really enjoyed Host, I am only giving it three stars.

Score: 3 out of 5 stars

All movies reviewed on the Sci-Fi Gene blog are given a score of 3 out of 5 stars.

I'll Take The High Road [Review: Cloudpunk]

It's a rainy night in Nivalis. You're a recently arrived immigrant and a newly signed-up courier for the slightly illegal delivery company Cloudpunk, delivering parcels to customers around the city guided by the mysterious and melancholy Control. You're penniless and alone apart from your flute and your naive, excitable AI companion Camus the dog. And you have a flying car. It's a cheap pile of junk, handles terribly, and guzzles fuel, but it's still a flying car.

The star of adventure game Cloudpunk is the setting - Nivalis, a massive sprawling neon-infused megacity that you can explore freely in your HOVA or on foot. It's a huge voxellated environment, insanely detailed and full of character. The architecture is extraordinary, and it's alive with activity. HOVAs whip past you along the powered highways or take shortcuts between buildings, and the streets are full of strangers and robots - most minding their own business, but a few who will converse with you, leading to discoveries or side-quests. Even if there were no game element simply exploring the city would be an absolute pleasure. Cloudpunk is basically the game version of every flying car fantasy ever, particularly the neo-noir settings of the Blade Runner films, the Fifth Element or Revenge of the Sith, and it also reminded me strongly of other adventure games I've enjoyed - particularly Omicron: The Nomad Soul, and Anachronox, both of which also feature futuristic cities, free exploration and flying cars.

The main story is told through a series of missions usually taking you from a pickup point to a customer. Rania's conversations with her customers reveal the nature of Nivalis and of this future society, as well as clues leading to a mystery about the city's past. Your meetings with customers are like short stories - you get a brief glimpse of their personalities and lives before moving on to another story.

As a game Cloudpunk is easy. You don't have to learn the Nivalis equivalent of The Knowledge - nav points guide you through Nivalis to your destination. There aren't any time limits on the missions, and there don't seem to be any ways to die or lose - even your encounters with robot gang members and other unsavoury characters don't seem to turn violent. Most of the missions are pretty linear, although occasionally you are offered a moral choice in how you complete them. Fuel this costs money, and you don't earn much as a courier, so getting enough money to buy fuel and repair damage is a challenge, and you'll need to work very hard to upgrade your HOVA or pimp your apartment. Simply flying around the city will eventually use up all your cash, although there are a few alternative ways to make money, such as picking up abandoned items and selling them to merchants.

It's always interesting playing a non-violent game. Again comparing to Nomad Soul's beat-em-up and FPS sequences, they added challenge and peril to the game, but detracted from the story, and often caused frustration when I wanted to continue with the story, explore the setting or just enjoy the David Bowie soundtrack, not repeat the action sequence hundreds of times because it was slightly too hard. Those action sequences could have been removed without detracting from the game - as Cloudpunk proves. Cloudpunk also has a more modern outlook in all aspects of its' writing - Rania often finds herself challenging NPCs about their cultural assumptions and attitudes. And I have been playing for several hours and the plot has not lead me to either a red light district or a strip club - unlike every single other noir-inspired book, movie or game.

To sum it up, Cloudpunk is a beautiful, joyful world to explore, and it's an experience first and game second. While I should be delivering parcels non-stop, it's tempting and equally rewarding just to wander around immersing myself in the scenery and taking selfies.